Newcastle United have been brought back down to reality in their past two games after suffering back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time since December, following a tremendous nine-game unbeaten run which comfortably lifted them out of the relegation zone.
But Alex Iwobi’s 99th minute winner for Everton on Thursday night inflicted a second consecutive 1-0 loss for the Magpies and denied them the chance to further increase the gap between themselves and the bottom three.
And former Newcastle player and manager Alan Shearer did not think his former team “were ever going to score” and were “lacking in quality” during their last-gasp defeat against the 10-man Toffees, who were deserving of their victory on the night.
Shearer was on commentary duty for Amazon Prime’s live coverage of the game, and following the final whistle, he said: "They didn't do enough in the second-half, they had one effort through Joe Willock when Everton went down to 10 men and [Asmir] Begovic saved it. Other than that, I didn't think they were ever going to score.
"They were just lacking in quality, they didn't make the pitch big enough. They didn't move the ball quick enough when Everton went down to 10 men. Very much like Everton, they were lacking in quality in key areas."
Allan Saint-Maximin continued to start on the bench for the visitors, meaning Miguel Almiron started in place of him on the wing, while Bruno Guimaraes continued to stand in for the absent Jonjo Shelvey in the midfield three, but even with the two equally impressive replacements, the Magpies struggled to find their spark.
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It has come as a reality check for the Magpies who still haven’t guaranteed Premier League safety, despite an unbeaten nine-match run that has lifted them up to 14th in the table and, ahead of their defeat to Chelsea on Sunday, 10 points above the relegation zone.
However, despite those two successive defeats to the European champions and the Toffees, that points gap has only been reduced by one, with a nine-point cushion still very favourable as things stand.
A defeat to Chelsea was not exactly a surprise, despite the Magpies’ impressive form, but losing 1-0 to relegation-threatened Everton signals that there is still plenty of work for Eddie Howe’s side to do.
The future looks bright at St. James’ Park and it does seem incredibly unlikely that the Magpies will suffer relegation to the Championship, but with games to come against the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal before the end of the season, it could make for a nervy finish.
Newcastle fans will hope that star player Saint-Maximin will be restored to the starting lineup soon, while Shelvey’s comeback from illness will also be much appreciated as they look for more control and creativity in the middle of the park.
But Howe has instilled great belief in his side in recent months that they are more than good enough to stay in this division, but the defeat to Everton will have come as a timely reminder that they aren’t completely safe just yet.
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