Everton Triumphs Over Newcastle United 3–1: Young Stars Shine

Everton’s pre-season took a sharp upward turn in Edinburgh, as David Moyes’s side produced their most cohesive display of the summer to beat Newcastle United 3–1 at Murrayfield Stadium.

Ten days out from the Premier League kick-off, this felt a notch above a standard friendly. Newcastle arrived in flux, in new colours and under a new head coach. Everton, coming off a 3-1 defeat at Stuttgart and a mixed bag of summer results, needed something that looked and felt like progress.

They got it – and they got it from their younger, braver faces.

Branthwaite rests, Patterson starts on home soil

The headline before kick-off was who *wasn’t* involved. Jarrad Branthwaite, fresh from captaining the side and playing 80 minutes in Stuttgart, was left out of the matchday squad as part of his planned reintegration after last season’s hamstring injury. The club confirmed he will continue full training at Finch Farm and is earmarked for minutes in the final warm-up against LOSC Lille at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday.

On the pitch, Nathan Patterson was handed the right-back slot in his native Scotland, while new arrivals such as Norgaard and Johnson remained on the sidelines, still to be fully folded into Moyes’s plans. Tim Iroegbunam was again missing after coming off early in Germany.

Slow start, then Barry strikes

Newcastle, decked out in a striking pink strip, started on the front foot. The Toon monopolised the ball in the opening exchanges, forcing Everton back and drawing an early save from Mark Travers after a speculative lob from Wissa. A flurry of pressure brought corners and half-chances, with Elanga testing Travers again after Mykolenko got himself tangled on the left.

For 10 minutes, Everton barely put a foot on the ball. When they finally did, Patterson delivered a teasing cross to the far post that just evaded Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. It was a flicker rather than a surge, but it gave the Blues a foothold.

Hackney began snapping into tackles and trying to feed the front line. George buzzed around the left, full of intent but short on final product, three times running into traffic or finding a defender. At the other end, Wissa went down in the box under minimal contact from Hackney, the referee unmoved.

The game’s first real moment of quality came from Everton’s own box. Hackney was robbed and Wissa looked certain to score, only for James Tarkowski to throw in a superb recovery challenge. In an instant, defence became attack. Michael Keane launched a lofted ball forward; Barry initially misjudged it but recovered, wriggling past two defenders. The ball broke loose, Armstrong pounced and slipped in Theirno Barry, who drilled a low finish across the keeper and into the far corner on 28 minutes.

Clinical. Composed. Exactly what Everton had been missing in pre-season.

Ndiaye from the spot as Everton take control

The goal settled Moyes’s side. Barry, now brimming with confidence, kept driving at Newcastle and drew a series of fouls, one of them from Joelinton, who was increasingly rash in his challenges. From one such attack, a flowing move should have seen Iliman Ndiaye score, only for Newcastle’s new goalkeeper to keep him out.

The Senegal international didn’t have to wait long for another chance. Mykolenko fed Dewsbury-Hall, Joelinton clattered in once more, and this time the referee pointed straight to the spot. Ndiaye stepped up in the 35th minute and calmly rolled his penalty home.

Everton, 2-0 up, began to look like a team. Patterson nicked the ball off Joelinton and surged down the right, only for Dewsbury-Hall to hesitate and allow Newcastle’s defence to regroup before George’s eventual effort was smothered. Wissa left his mark with a nasty foul that drew only a free-kick and a warning, Tarkowski making his feelings clear to the Newcastle man.

The Toon’s frustration grew. Ndiaye robbed Hall, only for a soft free-kick to go against him. Joelinton went down after a sharp tap from Armstrong in midfield, another set-piece wasted. Toure’s deliveries from the left remained dangerous, but Everton’s back line held firm, clearing corners and crosses with authority.

By half-time, Everton led 2-0 and, more importantly, looked in control.

Newcastle rotate, Everton stay sharp

Newcastle made sweeping changes after the break and immediately tried to shift the momentum. Jacob Murphy broke in behind Mykolenko and forced Travers into an excellent low save to his right. Everton’s response was uneven: Hackney’s lofted pass found Barry, whose heavy touch surrendered possession, and Mykolenko followed up some good build-up with a wild, aimless cross.

Still, there were flashes. George whipped a superb ball towards Ndiaye, only for it to bounce awkwardly and run out of play. Dewsbury-Hall knitted things together, and one neat move ended with George’s trademark curler bending just beyond the top corner.

Everton then tried to slow the game, keeping the ball but often recycling it back to Travers rather than slicing through Newcastle. Barry’s direct running continued to earn free-kicks; from one, Dewsbury-Hall bent a clever effort around the wall and towards the post, the keeper forced to push it behind.

Chances came and went. George saw a shot blocked, Hackney combined beautifully with him on a one-two backheel in the box but went down without winning a penalty, and Ndiaye cut inside only to sky his effort.

On the hour, Moyes turned to his bench. Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall and Barry made way for Dibling, Alcaraz and Beto, with Patterson earlier replaced by Röhl and later Mykolenko by Aznou. The shape remained, the energy changed.

George steals the show

The game’s outstanding moment belonged to Tyrique George.

Everton had been probing without quite finding the killer pass. Then, in the 73rd minute, George seized the stage. He drove forward from the left, fizzing with intent, and exchanged crisp passes with Armstrong. The midfielder showed real composure, standing on the ball for a heartbeat before threading a superb reverse pass back into George’s path.

What followed was pure instinct. George spun like a ballerina, set himself in one motion and lashed a low strike into the net. A brilliant goal, full of confidence and craft, and the standout moment of Everton’s pre-season so far.

Everton began to enjoy themselves. Neat passing triangles took them out from the back, George slipped in Aznou on the overlap, and his cross was blocked at the last second. Ramsey resorted to a rugby tackle on Armstrong and somehow escaped a booking.

Dibling, lively on the flank, beat his man and whipped in a decent cross that found no takers. The patterns were there; the ruthlessness, not quite.

Late Newcastle reply, but Everton’s night

Newcastle finally found a way through late on. Murphy, one of their brighter sparks after the interval, delivered a superb cross, and Barnes met it with a clipped finish to beat Travers and deny the Everton keeper a clean sheet.

It was a reminder that this Everton side is still learning how to close games out. But it didn’t change the feel of the night.

From Tarkowski’s defiance at the back to Armstrong’s composure in midfield and George’s sparkling finish, this was a performance laced with personality. With Branthwaite to return and new signings still to be integrated, Moyes has decisions to make before Lille and the league opener.

On this evidence, though, some of his younger players are making those choices far more interesting than they were a week ago.