Everton Dismantles Newcastle United 3–1 in Pre-Season Match

Everton’s pre-season has been uneven, occasionally flat, often scruffy. Not here. Under the grey Edinburgh sky at Murrayfield, David Moyes’s side delivered their sharpest performance of the summer, dismantling a reshaped Newcastle United 3–1 with a display built on aggression, control and one outstanding moment of individual brilliance from Tyrique George.

Ten days out from the Premier League kick-off, this felt a lot closer to the real thing.

Branthwaite absent, Patterson nod to Scotland

The main team news came before a ball was kicked. Jarrad Branthwaite, who captained Everton and played 80 minutes in Stuttgart at the weekend, was left out entirely as part of his planned reintegration following last season’s hamstring injury. The club confirmed he will continue full training at Finch Farm and is being kept back for the final warm-up against LOSC Lille.

Elsewhere, the line-up was largely as expected. Nathan Patterson started at right-back on Scottish soil, a neat subplot for the locals. Tim Iroegbunam was again missing after his early withdrawal in Stuttgart, while new arrivals such as Norgaard and Johnson were left out as Moyes keeps them on the fringes until they are ready to meet his demands.

On the opposite bench, Matthias Jaissle’s Newcastle – in a vivid pink change strip – arrived off the back of a win over Valencia but still very much in flux. Eddie Howe has gone, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes have all been sold, and this had the feel of a side still working out what it wants to be.

Newcastle start fast, Travers stands firm

The Toon kicked off and immediately seized control of the ball. For the first five minutes, Everton barely had a touch. Travers was called into early action, dealing comfortably with a lob from Wissa before claiming the first Newcastle corner under pressure.

Everton’s attempts to build were scrappy. Lewis Barry was fouled as he tried to burst through midfield, only for the free-kick to go backwards and possession to be squandered. Iliman Ndiaye suffered the same fate moments later, his foul again leading to a retreat to Travers and a hurried clearance.

Newcastle sensed vulnerability. Toure whipped in a fine cross from the left that Wissa lashed over, then Vitalii Mykolenko tied himself in knots and gifted Elanga a sight of goal, Travers bailing his left-back out with a sharp save low to his right.

For a while, Everton were penned in. Then, on 14 minutes, they finally punched back. Patterson, eager and direct down the right, swung in an excellent far-post cross that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was just a fraction late to meet. It was the first sign the Blues were ready to play.

Everton settle, Barry strikes

As Everton grew into the contest, Hayden Hackney began to snap into tackles and use the ball with more authority. He broke up a Newcastle move and found Barry, who appeared to be fouled again, but play went on. A slick exchange between Dewsbury-Hall and George freed the youngster for a driving run, only for him to hesitate on the edge of the box and lose the chance.

George kept demanding the ball, buzzing around defenders, but his final pass repeatedly let him down. Newcastle still carried threat – Ossula almost slipped through, Wissa went down in the area under minimal contact from Hackney and was waved away – yet Everton’s back line, marshalled by James Tarkowski and Michael Keane, stood firm.

Then came the game’s first real swing.

Hackney was robbed in midfield and Wissa looked certain to punish him, only for Tarkowski to time a superb challenge and flip the script. Suddenly Everton were away on the counter. Keane launched a lofted ball forward, Barry initially misjudged it, then recovered brilliantly, wriggling past two defenders. His run was halted by a fine tackle, but the loose ball fell to Armstrong, who slid in Theirno Barry. One touch, low across the keeper, into the far corner. Barry, 28 minutes on the clock, and Everton 1–0 up with a goal of real composure.

Newcastle’s frustration grew. Barry was wrestled down by Joelinton, the free-kick again recycled backwards. When the ball finally came in, Ndiaye couldn’t bring it under control. Moments later, though, Everton carved the visitors open with their best move of the half, only for Newcastle’s new goalkeeper to deny Ndiaye what should have been a simple finish.

The pressure didn’t go away.

Ndiaye doubles the lead from the spot

Mykolenko, having survived his early wobble, picked out Dewsbury-Hall with a clever pass. Joelinton clattered into the midfielder inside the area, and this time the referee pointed straight to the spot. No fuss from Ndiaye. A short run-up, a calm strike, and on 35 minutes Everton were 2–0 ahead.

The goal unleashed Patterson. He robbed Joelinton high up the pitch, surged down the right and looked to spark another attack, but Dewsbury-Hall dithered, unsure whether to shoot or slide the ball across, and by the time he picked out George the box was packed with pink shirts.

The temperature rose. Wissa flew into a nasty challenge and escaped with only a free-kick and a warning from Tarkowski ringing in his ears. Ndiaye nicked the ball off Hall, only to see a soft free-kick awarded the other way. Newcastle’s irritation was obvious; Everton’s organisation at the back even more so.

Armstrong, growing in confidence, began to dictate in midfield. Joelinton felt another sharp tap on his ankle and went down, but the set-piece came to nothing. Toure’s deliveries from the left continued to trouble, yet Tarkowski headed one dangerous cross behind and the resulting corner fizzled out.

Everton reached half-time 2–0 up, having turned a shaky start into a controlled, assertive first 45 minutes.

Newcastle ring the changes, Everton keep their edge

Jaissle responded with wholesale changes at the break, and the fresh legs immediately gave Newcastle more zip. Jacob Murphy darted in behind Mykolenko and drilled a low shot that Travers clawed away superbly down to his right.

Everton, though, refused to fold. Hackney clipped a lovely ball over the top for Barry, whose heavy first touch let a defender in. George then whipped a superb cross towards Ndiaye, only for the bounce to beat the forward and skid behind.

The pattern shifted. Everton were forced to defend deeper as Newcastle’s substitutes tried to inject tempo, but the Blues still found moments to breathe. One promising move ended with Mykolenko slashing a wild, wasteful cross, a reminder that not every piece of the puzzle is in place yet.

Then came a passage that summed up Moyes’s vision. Dewsbury-Hall glided through midfield, Hackney joined in, and George curled a trademark effort just beyond the far angle. Newcastle thought they had worked another opening down Everton’s left, only for the flag to go up for offside.

Everton then slowed the game deliberately, knocking the ball around, often back to Travers, drawing Newcastle out. Barry drove inside and was clipped by Miley; Dewsbury-Hall bent the free-kick around the wall, forcing another smart save as it arrowed towards the post.

George saw a shot blocked, Hackney burst into the box off a delightful backheel from George and went down under pressure, but the referee waved away penalty appeals. Ndiaye cut inside and blazed over. Mykolenko, criticised earlier, read the danger well to snuff out another attack and help clear a corner. Barry broke from the clearance and then wasted the pass.

On the hour, the changes came.

Bench impact and a goal to remember

Moyes shuffled his pack. Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall and Barry made way, with Dibling, Alcaraz and Beto introduced. The structure held. Barry, before his withdrawal, had led one more counter, slipping in George, who hesitated just long enough for Dibling to go down under an arm to the face. Again, no penalty.

Armstrong, still at the heart of everything, switched play brilliantly to Dibling, whose first cross deflected behind. From the corner, taken short and recycled, Dibling whipped in a second, far more dangerous ball that almost created a chance. George then took his turn, dancing down the left, winning a corner that Hackney swung to the far post without reward.

Then Murrayfield saw something special.

Everton broke from deep with purpose. George drove forward, exchanged crisp passes with Armstrong, who had the confidence to pause, stand on the ball and wait for the perfect lane. The reverse pass he produced was exquisite – firm, precise, disguised. George, Tyrique George, spun like a ballerina on the edge of the box and lashed a low shot into the net on 73 minutes. Technique, balance, ruthlessness. It was the move of the night and the goal of Everton’s pre-season so far.

The confidence surged through the side. More neat football carried Everton out from the back, George slipping Aznou in on the overlap, only for the cross to be blocked. Ramsey hauled Armstrong down in a rugby-style challenge and somehow avoided a booking. Dibling beat his man and delivered a decent cross into the area, but no blue shirt gambled.

Barnes offers a warning shot

Newcastle, to their credit, kept coming. Eventually they found a way through. Murphy, lively since coming on, carved open the Everton defence with a superb cross, and Harvey Barnes arrived to clip home a tidy finish, a reminder that this retooled Newcastle still carries menace in the final third.

Everton saw it out without drama. Travers remained assured, the back line stayed organised, and the late introduction of Foster and others helped drain the clock. The final whistle confirmed a 3–1 win that felt more convincing than the scoreline.

A night that sharpens expectations

Pre-season results can deceive, but performances matter. This one will have pleased Moyes. Travers was authoritative. Tarkowski and Keane were solid. Patterson brought energy and bite. Hackney and Armstrong knitted the game together. Ndiaye scored and stretched the play. Barry took his chance. And George, with that spinning, ruthless finish, offered a glimpse of something genuinely exciting.

With Branthwaite to return and new signings still to be integrated, Everton head towards their final friendly against Lille with momentum and questions of a different kind.

Not “Can they compete?” but “How high can this group push once the real stuff starts?”