Finally, Newcastle are grinding out results. Against Everton last week, United came away with a 3-2 victory, despite it being 1-1 with 20 or so minutes to go. Later than usual, here are the views of our expert panel on how the Toon coped against the Toffees at St James Park.

Rich

“Typical isn’t it? The first game of the season that I haven’t either been at or seen live in its entirety on TV and it’s an absolute corker – well at least the last five minutes or so were. It would all have to happen down at the end where I usually sit as well, just to rub more salt in the wounds. I was in the car moving down to Hull and we managed to get it on Century Radio until York (about the 70th minute) and then radio silence ensued. I didn’t even hear the best bit!

How I would have loved to have been down in the Strawberry Corner to see Emre’s pearler and Owen’s classic header and to watch Charles N’Zogbia run down the clock as we walked away from St. James’ with another three points. The last five minutes were unreal by the sounds of it.

I talked pre-match about our desire and need to make our home ground into a fortress and we’ve certainly made a big stride towards that after Sunday. Everton are a decent side, even with their injuries, but we made hard work of them as chance after chance went begging. It took a roll of the dice from the touchline to win this for us as our Turkish maestro and England’s number 10 appeared to spare our blushes.

Hopefully we’ll see more from Emre AND Owen in the coming weeks, along with the returning Joey Barton and there’s the most important game of my season on October 22nd to look forward to as well – another one I’ll not be able to get to, much to my disgust. 3-2 wasn’t quite 3-1, but I wasn’t far off this week!

Man of the Match: Nicky Butt”

Tom

“Well now, let that be a lesson to all those who leave early! 1-1 with about six minutes to go, and we end up 3-2 winners.

I was pleased with the way we started. Milner and N’Zogbia down the wings, Alan Smith looking much better in a central attacking role, things were looking promising. The first half saw us create the majority of the chances. Martins was frustrating in that he had plenty of opportunities to tuck a goal or two away, but instead he wasted them. Butt gave us the lead a few minutes before the break, and we undoubtedly deserved the half time lead.

Unfortunately the second half was another story. Everton got back into the game, and it didn’t take long for Andy Johnson to equalise. The majority of the second half saw us run around like headless chickens. We just couldn’t seem to string passes together and Geremi gave the ball away far too often in midfield.

It looked as if it was going to be one of those frustrating afternoons, and I was already building up to my post-match frustration, when Emre and Owen came on as late substitutions and turned the game around. The last ten minutes saw us rally, and both Emre and Owen got goals, we lost concentration right at the death which made it 3-2 rather than 3-1, but on the basis of the second half, I think that a two goal margin would have flattered us, but we narrowly, by the scruffs of our necks deserved to take all three points.

So, we won, which is the main thing, but it’s clear there are still things to work on with the midfield and Martin’s finishing - it could have so easily been a frustrating draw where the good work of the first half had been undone by a poor second half.”

Midds

“Another scrappy game in which we had much the better of things and came out with a deserved three points against good opposition. Allardyce sent out the correct team in the correct positions and we all saw the benefits and improvements. Smith and Martins linked up well and Cacapa and Faye also struck up an understanding in the two key areas of the pitch. Beye and Enrique actually gave our back four a natural balance and the Butt/Geremi midfield is functional but limited going forward. Given had a distinctly average game and he should be looking over his shoulder a little nervously in my opinion.

Everton hustled and bustled without really creating much and seemed to tire as each half went on, which was widely predicted prior to kick off. Butt took his goal well and Martins could learn a few things about placing, rather than powering, shots at goal. They equalised with a poor goal from our point of view. A series of individual mistakes defensively meant we had been pulled way out of position and Johnson simply bundled it in. They seemed to drop off and settle for the draw at this point and Allardyce made his substitutions early enough to actually turn one point into three. On came Emre and he cracked in a great low shot which looked to be the winner….only for Owen to get his head to an Emre free kick to seal things. Still time remained for Given to paw one into his own net and it got a little fraught until the appalling Martin Atkinson blew up for full time.

If United can keep grinding results like this, while not playing particularly well, against teams like Everton, things are on the up. With Barton’s return to fitness and a fully fit Viduka to come back into the squad, we’re suddenly looking up the league and are well within striking distance on the current top 6.”

Join us later this weekend to get our panel’s views on the upcoming televised Monday night game against Spurs.