By going to win at the poorly ranked Everton (4-1) on Thursday, Newcastle seems to be heading straight for qualification in the Champions League, after 33 Premier League days, while Manchester United let slip a two-goal advantage at Tottenham ( 2-2). The result remains positive for the Red Devils, 4th and last virtual qualifiers for the C1 with 60 points, six better than their evening opponent (5th) and Aston Villa (6th), who played two more matches.
Newcastle are 3rd with 62 units, and one game less than Spurs and Villans. A year and a half after the takeover by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, recalled by the white and green outfit they wore at Goodison Park, they could enter the court of the very big ones.
Ruthless against Tottenham (6-1) on Sunday, they were again against Everton who resisted for a long time, Dominic Calvert-Lewin seeing an equalizer canceled for offside in added time of the first period. Eddie Howe’s men opened the scoring through Callum Wilson after Jordan Pickford repelled an attempt by Joelinton (0-1, 29th) and killed the game late in the second half.
On an overflow from Joe Willock, Joelinton easily pricked his head from six meters for the 2-0 (72nd) before Callum Wilson, with a curled shot in the top corner after a rush from former Lyonnais Bruno Guimaraes, did not s offers a double (0-3, 75th).
The Toffees supporters who then left the stadium missed the reduction of the score on a direct corner from Dwight McNeill (1-3, 80th), but it spared them the solo number of Alexander Isak which humiliated the whole defense of Everton before finding Jacob Murphy a meter from the line, almost on the engagement (1-4, 81st).
For its part, Manchester United missed out on an excellent operation. Four days after going on penalties against Brighton in the FA Cup semi-final, Erik ten Hag had renewed ten of the eleven holders, only Jadon Sancho replacing Anthony Martial to leave the axis to Marcus Rashford.
The international winger quickly showed up, taking advantage of a split from Christian Eriksen on his left to transplant and wrap a shot from the right into the opposite side netting (0-1, 7th).
After conceding five goals in 21 minutes at Newcastle last weekend, Spurs couldn’t have had a worse start. Things didn’t get better afterwards, Ivan Perisic saving a ball on his line after a deflected shot from Sancho (19th), before Fraser Forster, who replaced the injured Hugo Lloris, made two saves in front of Rashford (39th, 41st) .
The third attempt was good for the center forward who took speed Eric Dier before deceiving Forster (0-2, 44th). After President Daniel Levy was called off during the first act, the halftime was greeted with thunderous boos from the spectators. But against all odds, the Londoners showed a completely different face in the second half, Clement Lenglet heading a header on the top of the crossbar in the 48th minute.
In the 56th, Pedro Porro, with a fine outside shot in the skylight, gave hope to the whole stadium (1-2) which was almost annihilated when Bruno Fernandes, alone at seven meters, found the crossbar ( 57th). Heung-min Son by not crossing enough (66th) and Dejan Kulusevski, by crossing too much (67th), on services from Harry Kane, missed the equalizer, before Dier, alone at six meters, mysteriously did not target his pitted head (69th).
Tottenham’s efforts were still rewarded when Kane, again and again, found Son at the far post who only had to convert this new caviar (2-2, 79th). In added time, Casemiro, with a header off target, missed a goal that would have been very cruel for Tottenham who, in the absence of C1, can still believe in Europe before going to Anfield to challenge Liverpool on Sunday. .
