Everton 3–1 Newcastle: Young Blues Shine at Murrayfield

On a cool Edinburgh night that felt far sharper than pre-season usually allows, Everton’s kids put on a show. Against Premier League opposition, under the lights at Murrayfield, David Moyes’s side delivered their most cohesive performance of the summer, dismantling Newcastle United 3–1 with a display built on intensity, bravery on the ball and flashes of real class.

Ten days out from the new campaign, this looked a lot closer to the finished article.

Branthwaite Left Out As Plans Take Shape

Everton’s big defensive pillar, Jarrad Branthwaite, was nowhere near the pitch. That was by design. Fresh from captaining the side and playing 80 minutes in Stuttgart at the weekend, the centre-back was left out as part of a managed reintegration after the hamstring injury that ended his last season. The club confirmed he will be back in full training at Finch Farm on Thursday and is earmarked for minutes in the final warm-up against LOSC Lille at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Elsewhere, the line-up carried more hints than surprises. Nathan Patterson started at right-back in his native Scotland. New arrivals like Norgaard and Johnson stayed on the sidelines, still being eased into Moyes’s system. Tim Iroegbunam remained absent after his early withdrawal in Stuttgart.

Across from them, Newcastle arrived in their pink change strip and under a new voice. Matthias Jaissle, charged with steering a post-Eddie Howe rebuild after the departures of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, watched on as his side tried to build on a recent win over Valencia.

Newcastle Start Fast, Everton Grow Into It

Newcastle kicked off and immediately took control. Everton barely had a touch in the opening exchanges, pinned back as the Magpies probed for gaps. Travers had to be alert to a lob from Wissa, then to a sharp effort from Elanga after Vitalii Mykolenko tied himself in knots and invited trouble.

For 10 minutes, Everton chased shadows.

Then Patterson changed the tone. On 14 minutes, the Scot finally dragged the Blues up the pitch, whipping a superb cross to the far post that just eluded Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. It was a reminder: Everton did have a plan, and it involved getting their full-backs high and trusting the young forwards to run.

Tyrique George buzzed around the left, full of intent but short on final product. Iliman Ndiaye tried to thread Barry through. The moves broke down, but the pattern shifted. Everton began to bite in midfield, with Hayden Hackney snapping into tackles and using the ball well.

At the back, James Tarkowski anchored things with authority. When Hackney was robbed and Wissa burst clear, it looked like a certain opener for Newcastle. Tarkowski read it perfectly, snuffed out the danger and, in a heartbeat, Everton were away on the counter.

Barry Breaks Through, Ndiaye Doubles The Lead

That tackle flipped the match. Michael Keane lofted the ball forward, Barry initially misjudged it, then recovered superbly. He wriggled past two defenders, was halted by a fine tackle, but the loose ball fell to Lewis Armstrong. The midfielder kept his head and slipped in Theirno Barry, who stroked a low finish across the keeper and into the far corner on 28 minutes.

One chance. One ruthless finish. Everton 1–0.

Barry kept causing problems. Joelinton wrestled him to the turf, the free-kick again going backwards rather than into the box, a recurring theme of Everton’s caution in possession. But when they did commit bodies, they looked dangerous. A flowing move should have seen Ndiaye score, only for Newcastle’s new goalkeeper to deny him.

The Senegal international did not miss his next opportunity. Mykolenko released Dewsbury-Hall, Joelinton clattered into him and this time the referee pointed to the spot. On 35 minutes, Ndiaye stepped up and calmly rolled his penalty home, sending the keeper the wrong way and doubling the lead.

Everton were 2–0 up and, crucially, playing like they believed it.

Patterson then produced a thunderous interception on Joelinton and surged down the right, but Dewsbury-Hall hesitated on the ball and the move fizzled out into a mass of pink shirts. Newcastle’s frustration simmered. Wissa went in late and earned a stern word from Tarkowski. Ndiaye nicked the ball off Hall only for a soft free-kick to be awarded against him. The Blaydon Races chorus never really got going; the Blues’ back line stayed firm.

By half-time, Everton were deservedly in front. Newcastle had started brighter, but Moyes’s side had grown into the contest, taken their chances and imposed their structure.

Newcastle Rotate, Everton Keep Their Nerve

Jaissle responded with sweeping changes at the break. The fresh legs paid immediate dividends as Jacob Murphy got in behind Mykolenko and drove a low shot toward the bottom corner, only for Travers to produce a sharp save down to his right.

Everton, though, didn’t buckle. Hackney clipped a superb ball towards Barry, whose first touch deserted him at the crucial moment. George fizzed a dangerous cross towards Ndiaye, the bounce taking it away from the forward and out of play.

The pattern of the half swung back and forth. Newcastle’s substitutes carried threat, especially down the flanks, but Everton’s midfield continued to knit things together. Dewsbury-Hall glided past challenges, Hackney kept the tempo, and George drifted inside for his trademark curling effort that bent just beyond the top corner.

Mykolenko remained a mixed bag. Overlapped and beaten for pace one minute, defending stoutly the next. When Everton tried to slow the game, they often did it by going back to Travers, inviting a higher Newcastle press but also drawing them onto counters.

Barry’s direct running drew a foul from Miley and Dewsbury-Hall almost punished it, his free-kick curling around the wall and forcing another strong save, the ball pushed behind. George saw a shot blocked, Hackney tumbled in the box after a clever backheel exchange with George but got nothing. Ndiaye cut inside and blazed over. The third goal felt close, just out of reach.

Moyes rang the changes around the hour. Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall and Barry made way for Dibling, Alcaraz and Beto, with Patterson earlier replaced by Röhl. The structure remained, the energy refreshed.

Dibling immediately got involved, darting in from the flank and winning a corner via a deflection. His second cross from the right was a beauty, fizzed into the danger zone with real venom. George, now brimming with confidence, was relentless on the left, forcing another corner that Hackney sent to the far post.

The moves didn’t always click, but Everton were now dictating the rhythm.

George Steals The Show

Then came the moment of the night.

On 73 minutes, Tyrique George produced a goal that would have lit up any stadium, in any month. He drove forward from the left, exchanged sharp passes with Armstrong, who nonchalantly stood on the ball, waited, then threaded a stunning reverse pass into George’s path. The weight, the angle, the disguise – it was perfect.

George spun like a ballerina, set himself in an instant and drilled a low shot into the net. A clean, emphatic finish. A young forward announcing himself with a piece of football that was both instinctive and composed.

It was the best move of the match, and it belonged entirely to Everton’s youngsters.

The confidence surged. Everton played out from the back with assurance, George slipped in Youssef Chermiti Aznou down the flank, his cross blocked at the last moment. Ramsey resorted to a rugby tackle on Armstrong and somehow escaped a booking. Dibling beat his man and sent another teasing ball into the box, again with no one on the end of it.

Newcastle finally found a way through late on. Murphy, lively since coming on, delivered a superb cross from the right and Harvey Barnes met it with a clipped finish that gave Travers no chance. A consolation, but a reminder that this Everton side still has lessons to learn about concentration.

Statement Night For Moyes’s Everton

By the final whistle, though, the scoreline – Everton 3, Newcastle 1 – told a clear story. This was not a smash-and-grab. It was a controlled, assertive performance built on a strong spine and fearless youth.

Travers impressed in goal. Tarkowski marshalled everything in front of him. Hackney and Armstrong knitted the midfield. Barry, Ndiaye and George brought the incision, with George’s second-half strike the standout moment of pre-season so far.

The new campaign is still ten days away. Lille await at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and tougher tests will come once the real points are on the line. But in Edinburgh, against Premier League opposition and under a new-look Newcastle regime, Everton’s young core showed exactly why Moyes is backing them.

If this is a glimpse of what’s coming, how bold is he prepared to be when the season starts for real?