Newcastle United 0 Everton 3
Ross Barkley scored the sort of outrageously audacious virtuoso goal reminiscent of Diego Maradona in his pomp as Everton suggested they could only enhance next season’s Champions League. If such European qualification remains a fairly slender hope for Roberto Martinez’s beautifully, and bravely, constructed side, the daunting scale of the re-building job required at Newcastle United this summer was fully emphasised.
The home side may have left it far too late to liberate Hatem Ben Arfa from the bench but they would probably always have been second best to a wonderfully cohesive Everton whose gameplan left plenty of room for improvisation from Barkley and the equally eye-catching Gerard Deulofeu.
Perhaps noting that Martínez had only selected one natural defensive midfielder in Gareth Barry, Newcastle began at a ferocious tempo which temporarily unhinged their visitors.
This early storm soon passed. Indeed once Luuk de Jong’s shot was deflected to safety, Yoan Gouffran’s shot had been blocked and then Gouffran had spurned a fairly straightforward follow-up chance, Everton seemed to take a deep collective breath.
With Deulofeu and Barkley cleverly supporting Romelu Lukaku in attack it was not long before Martínez’s players were reminding Newcastle that they could play a bit. Deulofeu especially was giving Alan Pardew’s team, and the home left-back Paul Dummett in particular, quite a few frights.
Tim Krul made a splendid save to keep Lukaku’s low shot out at the end of a gloriously slick Blues buildup featuring Barry, Barkley and Leon Osman, whose adroit pass bisected two defenders before finding the Chelsea loanee striker.
The verve and vision of Martínez’s players was already making Newcastle appear dull, direct and, at best, two dimensional by comparison when the evening reached a key juncture as Everton counterattacked and Deulofeu nudged the ball to Barkley.
Around 70 yards from goal he embarked on a surging run. Leaving the badly positioned Dummett – looking an increasingly weak link – and the wrong-footed Fabricio Coloccini among the defensive platoon left trailing in his powerful yet poised wake, the 20-year-old then traversed the edge of the penalty area.
By way of proving he could most definitely finish what he started, Barkley concluded matters by curling a left-foot shot beyond Krul’s grasp and into the roof of the net. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say the goal contained shades of Maradona and his exploits in the 1986 World Cup.
If even the most die-hard Newcastle fan could not fail to admire Barkley’s skill, the crowd’s mood turned edgy when Papiss Cissé, whose creditable sharpness was at least keeping John Stones and Sylvain Distin on their toes, collapsed in the Everton area only for the referee wave away home penalty appeals.
Energetic and competitive, Pardew’s side dropped regular hints that they could undo Martínez’s sometimes vulnerable defence, but they lacked Everton’s subtlety, control and creativity.
The exciting Deulofeu, borrowed from Barcelona, may occasionally have overdone his beloved step-over routines, but Newcastle supporters craved similar precocity. The sight of Ben Arfa starting to warm up was greeted with enthusiasm, but mild Geordie optimism was soon crushed as Lukaku lashed Everton’s second goal beyond Krul and into the roof of the net from close range.
It began with Osman’s lofted pass and featured a fine cross from Deulofeu – whose incisive delivery emphasised he is about much more than fancy footwork – gratefully seized on by Lukaku.
John Carver, deputising in the technical area while Pardew served the final game of his stadium ban, wasted no time in replacing the largely ineffective De Jong with Ben Arfa, but he had left it too late. In Carver’s shoes Martínez – who immediately ordered James McCarthy to keep a close eye on the newcomer – would surely have included the France creator in his starting XI.
Apparently inspired by the arrival of a substitute who had Leighton Baines to contend with if he got past McCarthy, Newcastle raised their game. Connecting with Distin’s headed clearance, Gouffran sent a volley whizzing fractionally over Tim Howard’s bar.
Pardew’s team had little option to attack but inevitably left them open to conceding further damage on the counterattack and from one such break had Krul to thank for preventing Lukaku scoring a second.
Undeterred the increasingly influential Ben Arfa, temporarily switched to the left wing, unleashed a fabulous cross from which Vurnon Anita shot narrowly wide.
It was far too little too late. Shortly afterwards Osman shot unerringly into the top corner following another gorgeous Evertonian preamble, this time involving Steven Naismith, Deulofeu – who very nearly added a fourth – and Lukaku.
