There were 80 seconds on the clock at Goodison Park and Anthony Gordon was about to put on the afterburners. Emil Krafth quickly realised.
Krafth knew that he was not going to win a foot race with Gordon so the Sweden international fouled the Everton forward as he raced down the touchline, sending the 21-year-old crashing into Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe and assistant Jason Tindall. Fourth official Mike Dean helped Gordon to his feet before Howe gave the youngster a pat on the back after witnessing a glimpse of his rapid pace first-hand last March.
It is one of the many reasons why a move for Gordon appeals to Howe. Harnessed in the right way - Gordon has since clocked a top speed of 36.61km/hr - that lightning pace could be a real asset.
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Gordon looks like a player in need of harnessing, all right, after an Everton fan chased down the academy graduate's car and told him he was 'not fit to wear the shirt' earlier this month. A fresh start surely suits all parties and Gordon is unsurprisingly keen on a move to Newcastle at a time when there has been no official explanation for his continued absence from training.
Gordon certainly appears in need of a manager like Howe to help get him back on track. Gordon has not looked quite the same livewire of late and his struggles have mirrored that of his team's. Gordon has not started a game in a month, has not scored since October and has yet to register an assist this season after being shifted around in a number of different positions.
Yet Howe and his staff will feel they can improve that output - Gordon is mouldable and willing - and those figures do not necessarily tell the full story regardless. Offensively, no Everton player has a greater non penalty xG, which is the number of goals Gordon would be expected to score based on the quality of chances presented to him in open play, and that shows the forward is at least getting into the right areas.
Off the ball, it is Gordon's defensive numbers that truly cement him as a Howe target. In fact, none of Gordon's team-mates have made more tackles in the final third or sprints per 90 minutes this season and the Liverpudlian is an effective presser, which is what Howe wants from his attackers.
With that in mind, it was a little telling that Newcastle did not move for, say, Arnaut Danjuma, who was available on loan this month, despite Howe and his staff's history with the former Bournemouth star. Newcastle are clearly looking at a different sort of profile now.
That profile has divided Newcastle supporters, of course, and Gordon's play-acting has even irked Newcastle players in the past. Who could forget Kieran Trippier giving Gordon a piece of his mind after he went down easily in the box at St James' Park a few months ago?
However, when on song, Gordon is one of those scrappers supporters love and opposition fans love to hate. Gordon certainly embodies the club's unofficial motto: 'We're not here to be popular - we're here to compete'.
As always, no stone has been left unturned when it comes to the club's background checks and that should reassure fans as Gordon has clearly passed this unseen character test. To be willing to invest such a huge sum in a player tells you Newcastle were not put off by what they discovered.
Former Newcastle Rafa Benitez will tell you how hard Gordon worked to get better during his brief spell in charge of Everton to improve his mentality and stamina while ex-Toffees first-team coach and Newcastle striker Duncan Ferguson once said the 21-year-old was 'very meticulous in his preparations'. That is exactly the sort of trainer Howe will want to bring in.
Also, following Everton's 5-0 defeat at Spurs, former Everton manager Frank Lampard tellingly said that there was 'nothing positive about tonight other than Anthony Gordon'. In truth, though, those words were of little comfort.
Newcastle will already have learned that Gordon is a bad loser, someone who does not care how well he plays if his team have been defeated. In fact, Gordon will feel down for a couple of days even if he just has a bad training session. That again fits the profile of Howe's ideal target.
Given Newcastle's recruitment record since Howe came in - the overwhelming majority of signings have been successes - the Magpies boss will feel he has enough credit in the bank for his judgement to be backed. If the move comes off.
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