THINGS WE LEARNED

Forest next week, never mind when he goes away with Senegal for the ‘Africa Cup of Nations.

- By CHRIS BEESLEY

Gana sorely noticed by his absence

Everton's fighting men Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane made light of their Old Trafford scrap with a mock boxing match at the club’s Finch Farm training complex after the former was sent off for their ding-dong against Manchester United.

But the Blues were already on the canvas here by the interval.

Perhaps David Moyes’ men’s herculean exploits to become the first side to win a Premier League game away to the Red Devils after having one of their side red-carded, digging in against Ruben Amorim’s charges with a numerical disadvantage for some 77 minutes, left them physically and mentally exhausted, because they were sluggish from the start here against a Newcastle United outfit without a win away from home in the competition all season.

As we've already seen though, everyone can beat anyone in the division this term and even though Everton triumphed when these sides last met in the final game of 2024/25 at St James’ Park, that was the day that the Magpies still secured Champions League qualification and the sovereign wealth fund of the House of Saud has enabled them to assemble a squad which is talented enough to keep their £45million acquisition from the Blues, Anthony Gordon, on the bench.

While Gueye apologised for his actions straight away and neither he nor Keane looked forced in their actions for their lighthearted sketch to show they'd buried the hatchet, nobody among the hosts were smiling here as despite his diminutive 5ft 7in frame, the 36-year-old left a gaping hole in the middle of the pitch.

It had already been commented on how Gueye’s substitution in the 3-2 win at Wolves on August 30 had left the rest of the Everton team looking ragged, like they'd lost the adult in the room, and here they showed why he'll also be sorely missed against Bournemouth and Nottingham

Tale of two strikers