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“Cheer up Jordan Pickford…”, the away end sung as Newcastle United’s supporters resumed their battle with their arch-nemesis. Yet once again, there was only one winner in a war that has turned emphatically in favour of the England number one.
Pickford sparked a brawl amid the celebrations as Everton smashed Newcastle at Goodison Park last season, a game in which he kept a clean sheet.
At St James’ Park in April the 30-year-old was named man of the match after ignoring the dinosaur costumes teasing him from within the home crowd to keep the Blues in the game long enough to snatch a late equaliser that proved fatal to Newcastle’s hopes of qualifying for European football.
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On Saturday night, under the lights of Goodison, he held firm behind a patched up defence and produced the defining moment of this match as he dived to his left to block Anthony Gordon’s first half penalty. It was a moment that simultaneously swelled the influence of Pickford and diminished that of Gordon, who was booed on his return to the boyhood club he left after handing in a transfer request.
Pickford and Gordon showed no sign of mutual hostility at the end of this match, the former teammates ending the game in friendly conversation.
But it was a big moment perhaps needed by the former Sunderland keeper. Pickford has had a tough start to this season. While he is often unfairly targeted by barbs and excess scrutiny from pundits and rival supporters who know little of his true value to Everton’s efforts to stave off relegation in recent years, he has not been the sprawling superhero of seasons gone by.
As he prepares to head off for international duty he reminded everyone once again of his importance though. This penalty save kept Everton in a game that, at times, they looked in danger of being overwhelmed in. It swung momentum back in favour of the home side after the disappointment of a VAR intervention that led to Abdoulaye Doucoure’s header being disallowed for offside.
When the off-pitch technology was called into action soon after to enable referee Craig Pawson to review a senseless tug by James Tarkowski on Sandro Tonali from a corner that posed no threat, it once again felt as though Everton’s world may be caving in.
Then up stepped Pickford, who celebrated his stop with exaggerated pointing towards his temple - ‘focus’ was the obvious message. Everton maintained theirs and thus head into the international break with a useful point.
It was far from easy. Newcastle had the better chances, Iliman Ndiaye clearing off the line from a Bruno Guimaraes volley, Idrissa Gueye doing the same from a near-post Tonali flick and Pickford reacting well when a wild effort almost crept in after a wicked deflection from Michael Keane’s knee.
Several of the questions that have dogged the opening weeks of this historic campaign also remain - Dominic Calvert-Lewin was isolated for much of this match, Everton failing to provide respite to a defence that had to deal with wave after wave of attack. They still look vulnerable at defending set pieces.
Yet for all that, Everton could take positives from this performance. This was a gritty show of resilience against a talented team that visited Goodison with the Blues hit by injuries once again, Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko both late withdrawals that weakened Sean Dyche’s options.
In response, a team that has struggled to show the resilience that was its key characteristic last season rediscovered its heart. And those called up as a result were vital to that effort - Keane and stand-in right back James Garner both solid under heavy pressure.
And they could have snuck a winner - Dwight McNeil miss-hitting a volley as the ball fell to him at the back post and Calvert-Lewin being thwarted by Nick Pope from close range midway through the second half. Everton had a case for a penalty when Calvert-Lewin appeared to be bundled over by Dan Burn as he attempted to reach the rebound from Pope’s save but VAR chose not to send Pawson back to the monitor - leading to the latest rendition from the home end of “Premier League, corrupt as f***”.
Goodison is at its fiercest best when it feels like the world is against it and the mood swelled after that decision, which was later questioned by Dyche. It fuelled an atmosphere that helped carry Everton through to the final whistle. The point and clean sheet they will take from this will boost morale heading into a fortnight in which Mykolenko, Branthwaite, Nathan Patterson and Seamus Coleman could all return to fitness. This was a step forward, and one only possible because, once again, Pickford had the last laugh over his old enemy.