Dominic Calvert-Lewin came off the bench to score an 88th minute penalty to earn Everton a point at Newcastle on a wet Tuesday night at St James' Park.
The Magpies' evening eventually ended in frustration, but it started brightly when the in-form Alexander Isak scored a corker in the 15th minute.
There appeared little in the way of danger when Harvey Barnes lobbed the ball into Isak roughly 35 yards from goal, but the Swedish striker streaked into the box, evaded a couple of lunging tackles and arrowed a low finish into the corner of the goal past Jordan Pickford. Barnes will claim an assist, but in truth Isak did all the heavy lifting for a lovely strike that was his 15th in just 22 Premier League games this season.
Everton created dangerous moments that saw Beto and Dominic Calvert-Lewin go close, but the Magpies could and possibly should have stretched their advantage, as Pickford made saves from both Jacob Murphy and goal scorer Isak before the break.
Half-time: Newcastle 1-0 Everton
Eddie Howe's hosts knew that a second goal would go a long way to sealing the three points and they thought they had doubled their lead when defender Dan Burn turned home Isak's cross after a quickly-taken free-kick. However, the goal was disallowed due to a tight offside call against Isak.
Everton were not out of it, though, and they were agonisingly close to drawing level shortly afterwards when James Garner wriggled free in the box before thudding a low shot against the post.
The Magpies were swiftly back up the other end, and Isak had a shot cleared off the line before Pickford was again called into action to palm out a Bruno Guimarães effort.
Rightly or wrongly, Ashley Young has cultivated a reputation as something of a 'diver' over the years, so when he ran to the referee with arms aloft after tangling with Paul Dummett in the box, there seemed little danger in the air for Newcastle as the final whistle loomed.
However, the incident was reviewed by referee Tony Harrington who awarded a penalty!
Calvert-Lewin strode up and smashed the ball home, even though Martin Dubravka got a hand to the ball, to level the scores in the 88th minute.
Everton may well be 13 games without a win, but given their circumstances and how late they had to wait for their equaliser, this could constitute a very welcome point come the end of the season.
xG: Newcastle (2.73) 1-1 (1.58) Everton
1-1 | ||
Alexander Isak 15' | Calvert-Lewin 88' (pen.) |
