Premier League Week 4-Write up Everton v Newcastle

Everton 2-2 Newcastle

At it's best live sport is the best form of drama and we saw exactly why in this game as Everton were controversially denied victory against Newcastle in one of the truly outstanding games of the season so far.

Everton started the match quickly and took charge of the match from the opening whistle. Just moments after the kick off Everton had the ball in the goal thanks to Nikica Jelavic, however, the linesman rightly spotted him in an offside position disallowing the goal, it was to be one of 5 times Everton were to have the ball in the net.

Despite having Jelavics' "goal" disallowed it wouldn't be long before Everton did take the lead through Leighton Baines who finished off an excellent move with Steven Pienaar. It seemed almost certain that Everton were going to extend their lead before the half time mark, and with their dominance they probably should have done, but Newcastle did well to keep the score at 1-0.

The second half started like a completely different game and Newcastle came out like a house on fire. With in moments of the restart they came close, soon afterwards they Demba Ba equalised and the game seemed like it was flipped on it's head. Everton, who had thoroughly dominated the first half struggled to get the ball and it looked almost certain that Newcastle were going to score next and take the win.

Despite looking shell shocked, Everton battled their way back into the game and appeared to have taken the lead as Marouane Fellaini put in from a pass by Pienaar. Sadly this was ruled as offside, though replays suggest that the Belgian was onside and should have been given the benefit of the doubt. This decision appeared to really frustrate Everton who should have taken the lead again after Victor Anichebe's header crossed the line only for it not to be seen by the linesman. Both of these decisions really cost Everton who should have been 3-1 up.

Everton would finally score their second goal as Anichebe managed to put the Toffees in the lead just minutes from the end, sadly however Everton were caught napping traight from the restart and Newcastle grabbed an equaliser just minutes later as the match finished 2-2, with a lot of people looking at the officiating.

David Moyes has every right to feel annoyed at the officiating however he needs to really look at his own team who conceded just minutes after taking a 2-1 lead an appearing to claim all 3 points. It was a lapse of concentration that cost them just as much as poor officiating. He will however be pleased by the fact that Steven Pienaar and Leighton Baines were both tremendous througout the game.

Whilst Newcastle were very lucky their manager has to be happy. Not only were they the better team in the second half, but they also showed real fighting spirit to come from behind twice. They refused to be beaten and it's a real quality that they will need to show time and time again if they are to eclipse last seasons final position.

Premier League Week 1-Write up Newcastle v Tottenham Hotspur

Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
The late kick off of the opening day saw last year's 5th placed team hosting the 4th placed team in a match that on paper looked the best of the first days match ups. Sadly however the match took a while to really get going with the first 20 or so minutes being very stop start as Martin Atkinson booked 3 players in the space of 5 minutes in the opening half. Despite the poor nature of the half Spurs seemed the team more likely to scoring hitting the wood work twice with the only real attempts of note.

Despite being a slow burner the match came alive in the second half after Demba Ba scored his first goal for the club after a lengthy dry spell. It wasn't long however until Jermain Defoe equalised for Spurs after a poachers finish. Spurs sadly fell asleep almost immediately after equalising and as Hatem Ben Arfa was in the penalty area he was stupidly fouled by Dutchman Rafael Van Der Vaart and Aaron Lennon who gave away a penalty that Ben Arfa put away himself (after a small argument with Ba about who was going to take the penalty).

Also during the match Alan Pardew was sent to the stands after pushing one of the linesmen who made a decision that Pardew didn't agree with. I imagine that Pardew will have to suffer a touchline ban though hopefully what he takes from the match out weighs the penalty. His team didn't look as good as they did at times last season, though Ba's goal will hopefully help him get back to the form that saw him making a name for himself as one of Newcastle's key players. Whilst they didn't look great it is a very valuable 3 points over a serious rival and this is the sort of thing Newcastle need, wins over other top teams.

Andre Villas-Boas first competitive fixture in charge of Spurs after taking over from Harry Redknapp sadly didn't see Spurs playing to their best. A number of injuries left their front line very weak with only Jermain Defoe and teenager Harry Kane fit enough to play and this certainly didn't help. Though the loss falls squarely on the heads of Rafael Van Der Vaart and Aaron Lennon who had no reason to foul Ben Arfa in the penalty. Hopefully Spurs will be able to get their game faces on for their next fixture.