EVERTON 1-4 NEWCASTLE UNITED: The Magpies finally ended their struggles on the road as they hammered the Toffees, scoring three times in the first-half, as Lewis Miley shone
There have been times this season when Eddie Howe, one of life’s fresh-faced characters, has looked every one of the 48 years he has now completed. Those times have been mainly when he has been somewhere other than St James’ Park.
But on his birthday on the Mersey, the sunbeam smile returned. And one of those chiefly responsible for restoring it was a player yet to turn 20 years of age. A player brought through the ranks, a local lad with a glittering future.
Lewis Miley’s goal and assist will not trouble the end-of-season highlights – his corner-kick for Malick Thiaw’s opener was good but routine, his strike was kindly waved through by Jordan Pickford – but his all-round performance was wonderfully accomplished.
This is a player who will be a major part of Newcastle’s long-term plans, this is a player who should go on to be a major part of England’s long-term plans.
Thomas Tuchel is well-stocked in that department, so World Cup 2026 will surely come too soon, but Miley’s eye for a pass, his composure, his maturity and his deceptive robustness will see him elevated to the seniors some time relatively soon.
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It probably happened but it was hard to recall the 19-year-old misplacing a pass or choosing the wrong option. Miley’s cleverness actually typified this Newcastle away win – their first of the season in the Premier League.
It was not cavalier, it was not gung-ho, it was not overly flamboyant, it was calculated, it was stylish. A bit like their centre-forward. It is fair to say Nick Woltemade’s first three-and-a-half months in English football have been met with mixed reviews.
But whatever your take on Woltemade’s pace or finishing or haircut, one thing is for sure – the German attacker has a very impressive footballing brain. He has a quick mind and quick feet, his turn and short pass setting Anthony Elanga to win a corner inside a minute, a corner that produced the opener.
Woltemade is never going to be one of those hard-pressing types, he is never going to leave a defender sucking in oxygen, but he is a very intelligent link-up man. He is a good foil for Elanga.
Occasionally, in search of involvement, he can drop too deep. Anthony Gordon was stretching it a bit when he suggested Woltemade’s game reminds him of Harry Kane’s but you can see where he is coming from.
And to be fair, Kane would have been proud of Woltemade’s finish for Newcastle’s third just before half-time, an impudent lift over a hapless Pickford after Elanga had dispossessed an equally hapless Tim Iroegbunam.
The Everton midfielder was not required by David Moyes for the second half but, in truth, the manager could have replaced any of the starting eleven. This was a truly lamentable display from Everton, as gutless as the win at Old Trafford was gutsy.
Such was the overall ineptitude that no-one should be singled out for blame but it is clear that Moyes’s main issue is the lack of an elite level striker. It summed up Thierno Barry’s day – in fact, it summed up his short Everton career – when he thought he had broken his duck only for VAR to see he had inadvertently set himself up with a handball.
By then, Everton were four down, Thiaw heading his second of the evening and that rare win on the road had become a formality. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored a very pleasant-looking consolation but this was all about Thiaw, Woltemade and Miley.
And, of course, about Howe. At times this season, it has looked like the strain has been telling but this was a proper birthday tonic. And if he celebrated it with a glass of something on the bus back to Newcastle, he might well have raised his glass to Lewis Miley. The young man is a champagne talent.
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