Everton moved into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Newcastle United, scoring through James Garner, Hayden Hackney and Thierno Barry. The reward is an away tie at Fleetwood Town in the week commencing 14 December, after Newcastle’s hopes of lifting the competition for a second time in three seasons were ended. Everton, who have never won the Carabao Cup, reached the last eight with a clinical and committed display.
Much of the buildup was dominated by Jack Grealish rather than the match itself. Everton announced that the 31-year-old had been dropped for disciplinary reasons, and he is understood to have missed training on Monday without permission. Grealish returned to training before the game, but Moyes still left him out. The manager later called it a club decision, though it was taken by him and chief executive Angus Kinnear. The clear message was that no player is bigger than the club, and Everton did not miss the playmaker.
Newcastle made the stronger start in front of almost 8,000 of their own fans and dominated the opening 20 minutes. Jordan Pickford saved an early header from Harvey Barnes, who then set up Jacob Ramsey for a shot that Vitalii Mykolenko blocked superbly. Fabian Schär also tested Pickford from distance. Everton gradually found a foothold, and their first goal came from a long Pickford clearance. Amar Dedic was harried out of possession by Tyrique George, the ball broke to Hackney, and he squared for Garner to find the far corner of Lukas Hornicek’s goal.
Newcastle manager Matthias Jaissle called the defeat ‘shocking’ and his team ‘naive’, and said the first, second and third goals all came from individual mistakes. Everton’s second goal came from another Pickford intervention. The goalkeeper reacted quickly to throw towards Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the centre circle; Dewsbury-Hall spun away from Dan Burn and was tripped from behind by Ramsey. Referee Farai Hallam played an excellent advantage as the ball broke to Barry, and he clipped a cross for Hackney to volley home from close range. Jaissle made a triple half-time substitution in response to Newcastle’s ineffective display at both ends.
Newcastle pushed harder after the break. Substitute Yoane Wissa had an early chance from Joe Willock’s chip, and a Dedic shot looped over off Hackney’s heel. Pickford stood firm against his old adversaries, saving smartly from Lewis Hall, Anthony Elanga and Ramsey, while Wissa almost hit the corner flag with one decent chance. Newcastle finished with 28 shots to Everton’s 11, but only nine of the visitors’ attempts were on target.
Everton made the game safe in devastating style. Garner intercepted a pass from Dedic and released Dewsbury-Hall behind a static Newcastle defence. Dewsbury-Hall took Burn out of the equation with a perfect pass across to Barry, who had time to control and place a fine finish beyond Hornicek. Burn finally broke Everton’s resistance with a late header from an Elanga cross, and a melee involving the goalscorer, Pickford, James Tarkowski and Joelinton led to all four being booked. There was no miraculous escape for Newcastle, and Everton advanced to face Fleetwood Town. Andy Burnham, the prime minister, was among the Evertonians in attendance.