Frank Lampard has paid tribute to 'very effective' Newcastle United and the 'unplayable' Allan Saint-Maximin following Everton's 3-1 defeat against the Magpies.
Lampard's side actually took the lead at St James' Park on Tuesday night after Jamaal Lascelles put the ball through his own net in the 36th minute.
However, Newcastle responded brilliantly to that setback as Mason Holgate scored an own goal of his own just a minute later before Ryan Fraser fired the hosts in front after the break after getting on the end of Saint-Maximin's teasing cross.
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Kieran Trippier then sealed all three points late on with a stunning free-kick as Newcastle moved out of the relegation zone for the first time since October.
Although the result left Everton just one point above Newcastle in 16th place, Lampard showed his class after the game by complimenting the black-and-whites' display.
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"You have to give Newcastle credit," the Everton boss told reporters on Zoom. "They came out firing. The crowd were lively and they're very effective in the way they play.
"We expected crosses. We expected balls into [Chris] Wood. It went that way and Saint-Maximin on a night like this is pretty unplayable at any level of football.
"There are things on their side they did well and things on our side we didn't do so well."
For all the remarkable success Lampard has enjoyed over the years, the 43-year-old has had some tough nights at St James'.
As a player, Lampard won just seven of his 16 games on Tyneside with West Ham and Chelsea and his record as a manager is even worse.
Although Lampard triumphed on his previous visit to St James', with Chelsea, it is worth noting that game was played behind closed doors last season because of the pandemic.
In contrast, when the supporters were previously inside the stadium, Newcastle ended up beating Lampard's Chelsea side 1-0 back in January, 2020.
Lampard has friends who are Newcastle fans and the Everton boss certainly warned his players about the raucous atmosphere they were going to face under the lights.
"I told them to handle it. I've got experience of this atmosphere and it's hot," he added.
"It can start a game hot and I thought it did for five minutes. We started to take the sting out of that, which was good, and then we scored a goal and then we conceded straight away, which allowed the atmosphere to rise.
"Some things are in-game things you can't control from my point of view, but to be aware of the atmosphere is up to me to explain to the players and they were very aware of that."
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