The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Isak feels ‘at home’ at Newcastle
options that changed the game against West Ham and failed to kill the game off.
Whereas Howe made just two substitutes all told – throwing on Paul Dummett and Joe Willock – Sean Dyche was able to introduce James Garner, Andre Gomes and Dominic Calvert-lewin at once after the hour mark. The trio quickly made an impact.
HARVEY BARNES AND ALEXANDER ISAK LINK UP
A showdown with his former club under the lights at St James’?
Anthony Gordon certainly did not want to miss this one. Newcastle certainly did not want to be without him, either.
No other player in the Premier League has won more penalties (five) – the England international was felled for two spot-kicks as recently as Saturday – while Gordon has also been directly involved in 15 goals in the top-flight this season.
Those numbers are hard to replace, but Newcastle had to find a solution after Gordon was sent off at the death at the weekend.
In truth, Newcastle did not have to look too far.
The Magpies had
avery able deputy in Harvey Barnes – the man who helped change the game against West Ham with his double on Saturday – as the summer signing got a rare opportunity to start from the off in his favoured position on the left.
Barnes soon made an impact. A quarter of an hour had been played when the forward cleverly hooked the ball over James Tarkowski for Alexander Isak to run onto.
Isak still had a lot to do, but the Sweden international calmly cut inside the sliding Jarrad Branthwaite before picking out the bottom corner with a curling finish despite being off balance.
It was a timely reminder that for all their injuries, Newcastle still had an elite striker leading the line, who has already scored 19 goals and netted in five consecutive home games in the top-flight for the club.
Only Alan Shearer,
Andy Cole and Les Ferdinand have enjoyed a longer such run in the competition.
Jordan Pickford knew what was coming. There were deafening boos when Pickford’s name was read out by the stadium announcer before a ball was even kicked and that noise went up another notch when the Sunderland native jogged towards his goal at the Leazes End, where he was greeted by the sight of two huge inflatable dinosaurs in the crowd.
Everton boss Sean Dyche amusingly called it “quite a healthy reception”.
Each of Pickford’s touches were subsequently booed; each clearance was jeered; and there were even one or two chants about his allegiances, particularly when the goalkeeper made his point to the referee as the VAR check was ongoing for Dan Burn’s disallowed goal in the second half, which angered Geordies.
However, Pickford blocked it out and was named man of the match after making some important saves, including keeping out a volley from Jacob Murphy at 1-0 in the first half.
Did watching owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi see a potential summer target tonight?
Jarrad Branthwaite and Amadou Onana certainly have admirers at Newcastle and you can be sure the Magpies will be monitoring the pair, particularly if Everton go down.
Newcastle, after all, are going to have to be smart this summer – just as the Magpies were when they signed Nick Pope from Burnley after the Clarets went down and when the black-and-whites bought Harvey Barnes from Leicester City after the Foxes were relegated.
However, it is worth noting that Branthwaite, in particular, is likely to still command a colossal fee even if Everton are playing in the Championship next season.
ALEXANDER Isak has warned he will no longer “entertain” questions about transfer links with Arsenal after insisting he is fully invested in Newcastle United’s long-term “project”.
The Sweden international took his overall tally of United goals to 29 since his £63m move from Real Sociedad two years ago and he stated he was only focused on improving that tally. The Gunners have been taking a close look at Isak in recent months but Eddie Howe told reporters he was “not for sale” only last week.
Speaking about his commitment to Newcastle, Isak said: “Yeah, of course I want to be here in the future. I came here for the project, absolutely love playing here, I really feel at home. I want finish this season in a good way for me and the team.
“Of course, I love playing here. I don’t want to entertain these type of questions and rumours. It’s not my position. I love playing, we have important games, there’s no focus there (on my future), I just want to do good for the team.”
For now, Isak must stay fully fit as Newcastle look to close in on a European spot with the Europa Conference League looking increasingly like the best bet for the Magpies.
Isak said: “We want Europe, that’s our target. We want to end up as high as possible, so we have to be positive in that respect. “We have to keep winning games and we’ll see which place is available. There’s chances for us. The three points today would have been good but we got another point, we keep climbing. We know that we have to win many games to get where we want to and that starts on Saturday.”
Ahead of the trip to Fulham at the weekend, Isak underlined the need for back to back wins as the season progresses. After taking four points from six, Newcastle merely stayed in touch with West Ham but have Brighton, Wolves, Bournemouth and Chelsea all breathing down their necks.
Isak said: “We need consistency of course. If we want to go up the table we have to be consistent. We’ve been talking about that, being consistent, and we will have to try again next time. It felt like we lost two points against Everton. We had a lot of chances to win the game so we’re gutted but we have a new chance (to win) in a couple of days.”