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Newcastle United’s visit to Everton ended in a goalless draw, with the Magpies left ruing missed opportunities, most notably a penalty by former Toffee Anthony Gordon that could have seen the Magpies bag three more points instead of a meager one.

The penalty came after VAR intervened, ruling that Everton’s James Tarkowski had brought down Sandro Tonali in the box during a Newcastle corner in a rather ludicrous way.

Gordon, however, could do nothing to beat Jordan Pickford amid raucous booing coming from the stands of an old Goodison Park.

AG had to deputies as Newcastle’s makeshift striker once again due to injuries to Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson, and although he was his usual great he couldn’t make the ball kiss the net.

Newcastle dominated possession, controlling 68% of the ball, but struggled to create clear-cut chances in the final third as’s been the case earlier this season. Despite the dominance, the lads lacked a bonafide no. 9 and it showed, with Gordon often drifting wide to his preferred area leaving no one in the box to convert opportunities.

Already in the second half, now-oft-forgotten Miguel Almiron forced a smart save from Pickford, and Sandro Tonali saw a header cleared off the line by Idrissa Gueye. That was pretty much it for the Geordies.

At the back, Newcastle were solid, with Nick Pope making his usual saves and preventing the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin from breaking the tie, making it possible for NUFC to earn just their second clean sheet in the last 20 Premier League away matches back to last season.

“I have to credit the players because it is a difficult environment to play in and it is a much better defensive display from us too,” Howe said. “Big steps forward.”

This is no news at this point, but the lack of punch up front is starting to become more than concerning.

Yes, the draw moves Newcastle up to sixth in the Premier League pending Sunday’s matches, but the truth is that no team in the top 10 has scored fewer than 10 goals to Newcastle’s eight in seven games.

“I think Anthony handled the occasion very well,” Howe said after the draw. “I think his all-round game was very good. He will be disappointed with the penalty. Credit to Jordan Pickford for the save.”

Newcastle will be off for nearly two weeks throughout the international break and the lads will be back on Saturday, Oct. 19 to host Brighton at SJP.