ANALYSIS: JORDAN PICKFORD RILED AS NEWCASTLE'S INTENT DELIVERS 4-1
Magpies dismantle Everton 4-1, led by Thiaw's goals, silencing Pickford and ending their nine-game away winless streak. Dominant performance.
Newcastle United really shook up Jordan Pickford at Goodison Park, finally grabbing a win away from home.
Pickford came onto the field with his usual confidence, likely looking to provoke the Newcastle fans. Back in May, he was all smiles when he helped Everton win at St. James' Park, but this time was different.
As the game neared its end, many fans had already left, as Newcastle controlled the match. Pickford walked off looking disappointed and couldn't even look at the Newcastle supporters as he walked past the home section.
From the start, Newcastle showed strong attacking intent and kept it up throughout the game. This marks their first Premier League away win since April.
Just 21 seconds into the game, Nick Woltemade played in Anthony Elanga, who ran forward and shot at Pickford. Pickford pushed the ball wide, but from the following corner, Newcastle took the lead.
Lewis Miley's corner from the left was met by Malick Thiaw, who headed it in after 52 seconds. Eight minutes in, Harvey Barnes got through, but Michael Keane blocked his shot.
Everton had a chance two minutes later when James Tarkowski passed to Keane, but Dan Burn blocked the shot over the bar. Around the midpoint of the half, Everton had most of the possession, with 78%.
The home fans were shocked when Newcastle scored a second goal. Everton failed to clear the ball, and it fell to Miley, whose shot bounced into the net with Pickford's mistake after 25 minutes.
Tino Livramento passed the ball back into the box, Burn flicked it to Miley, who scored from a low shot, delighting the away fans. The 3,000 fans from Newcastle then sang, "Cheer up, Jordan Pickford."
Newcastle almost scored again three minutes later when Lewis Hall shot at Pickford, with a deflection sending it over the bar. Newcastle scored a third goal at the end of the first half with great teamwork. Ramsdale passed the ball to Livramento, who played in Elanga.
Elanga's cross found Woltemade in the box, who calmly chipped it over Pickford to make it 3-0! That score held until halftime, with Everton making a change for the second half.
Tim Iroegbunam was replaced by Carlos Alcaraz, but Everton knew they faced a tough challenge. The Toffees had their first shot on target five minutes into the second half when Iliman Ndiaye shot at Ramsdale.
Ramsdale saved a James Garner corner, and Alcaraz's follow-up hit the woodwork, but Newcastle held on. In the 56th minute, Barnes ran down the left, but Pickford blocked his shot.
Moments later, Pickford denied Woltemade, but Barnes and Hall got the ball back in, with Hall sending in a great cross. Thiaw then scored Newcastle's fourth goal three minutes before the hour mark.
Everton thought they had scored when Thierno Barry shot in from a left-wing cross on 65 minutes, but the goal was disallowed for a handball, keeping Newcastle's lead at 4-0.
Everton did score when James Tarkowski floated the ball into the box, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall finished it off. Joe Willock and Jacob Ramsey came on late in the game and played well together with 11 minutes left.
Ramsey couldn't score, and Pickford made another save. As the game ended, the few fans left booed as Anthony Gordon, who used to play for Everton, came on for a brief appearance.
Newcastle looked for another goal, but they didn't need one, as the game was already won. Newcastle now has 18 points, just three points outside the top five.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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