Newcastle 1-0 Everton: Player ratings as Toffees come unstuck at St James' Park
From St James' Park - Newcastle United continued their excellent run of form and maintained the best defensive record in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Everton.
Miguel Almiron claimed the only goal of the game to continue his only brilliant run of form as Newcastle were rarely troubled by Everton and the home side comfortably held on for the three points.
In truth, the game was a somewhat turgid affair before the scoring was opened by the home side on the half-hour.
Almiron curled home from the edge of the box - his fourth goal in four games - after nice work from Joelinton and Bruno Guiamares to tee up the Paraguayan.
Bruno, as he does most weeks, soon took charge of the game and within minutes of the opener had two good chances to double the lead - but despite beating Jordan Pickford on both occasions, the ball ran wide.
Everton struggled to lay a glove on the home side, and their only chance of the opening half came for the returning Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but he could only head Demarai Gray's corner over the bar after beating Sven Botman and Dan Burn to the ball.
Just before the break Everton had appeals for a penalty turned down as Anthony Gordon went down with Dan Burn in close attention. It actually caused a melee between the two sets of players as Newcastle were not happy with Gordon, who was booked along with Fabian Schar.
After the break and Everton began the second-half well, and they dominated possession for large periods, but again Pope was rarely tested.
Gray looked bright and put a number of dangerous ball across Newcastle's goal, but Calvert-Lewin was marshalled well by Botman and Schar on every occasion.
Almiron came closest to doubling Newcastle's lead as he was given too much time on the edge of the box and again looked for a curler to Pickford's right-hand corner but it sailed just over.
But Newcastle, who have not lost at home since April, really didn't need a second goal as Everton failed to register a single shot on target in the game.
Newcastle vs Everton player ratings
1. Newcastle (4-3-3)
GK: Nick Pope - 6/10 - Very solid as you come to expect from the England man, but was barely tested.
RB: Kieran Trippier (C) - 6/10 - Tried to get forward whenever he could and cross led to goal, but found it tough at times against Gray.
CB: Fabian Schar - 6/10 - Solid good battle with Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
CB: Sven Botman - 6/10 - Did nothing wrong, marshalled back-line well.
LB: Dan Burn - 7/10 - Never looks natural as a full-back but coped very well with Anthony Gordon.
CM: Sean Longstaff - 6/10 - Worked his socks off, did his job. Can't ask much more.
CM: Bruno Guimaraes - 8/10 - Good in attack and defence when needed. Makes the game look easy.
CM: Joelinton - 4/10 - Played his part in the goal and did OK, but was lucky not to see a second yellow in the opening half and taken off at half-time.
LW: Jacob Murphy - 6/10 - Good first-half cutting inside, struggled a bit second-half.
CF: Callum Wilson - 6/10 - Worked hard and led line well, but no real chances came his way.
RW: Miguel Almiron - 8/10 - Constant danger and great goal, gave away possession at times but full of running.
Manager: Eddie Howe - 6/10 - Good decision to bring off Joelinton.
SUB: Joe Willock - 5/10 - (46' for Joelinton) - Worked hard, but never really got a foot-hold in midfield.
SUB: Elliot Anderson (70' for Murphy) - N/A
SUB: Ryan Fraser (70' for Almiron) - N/A
SUB: Chris Wood (86' for Wilson) - N/A
2. Everton (4-2-3-1)
GK: Jordan Pickford - 6/10 - Couldn't do much with the goal - solid apart from that.
RB: Seamus Coleman (C) - 5/10 - On the back foot throughout, given a tough time.
CB: Conor Coady - 6/10 - Some good blocks and strong throughout.
CB: James Tarkowski - 6/10 - Did little wrong, marshalled back-line well.
LB: Vitaliy Mykolenko - 4/10 -Distribution poor, struggled all night against Almiron.
CM: Idrissa Gueye - 6/10 - Anchored the midfield pretty well.
CM: Amadou Onana - 6/10 - Some nice touches and was really busy but didn't really impact on the game.
AM: Alex Iwobi - 5/10 - Battled well but struggled to get in the game at times
RW: Anthony Gordon - 5/10 - Full of running but too little end product.
CF: Daniel Calvert-Lewin - 6/10 - Worked hard on his return, looked a threat.
LW: Demarai Gray - 7/10 - Really bright throughout, cutting inside and creating almost every chance that Everton had.
Manager: Frank Lampard - 6/10 - His team battled for him, but lacked a cutting edge.
SUB: Neal Maupay - 6/10 - (70' for Calvert-Lewin) - N/A
SUB: James Garner (70' for Iwobi) - N/A
SUB: Dwight McNeil (79' for Gray) - N/A