Everton fell to a second successive league defeat against Newcastle United.

Callum Wilson converted a second-half penalty after being fouled by Andre Gomes before tapping home a Ryan Fraser cross late on to secure victory.

An injury-time goal from Dominic Calvert-lewin proved mere consolation for Carlo Ancelotti’s side as they remain second in the Premier League table.

Here were the key talking points from St James’ Park:

Olsen offers food for thought

 

A combination of factors led to Jordan Pickford failing to start his first Premier League match for Everton since joining the club over three years ago.

Backlash from his tackle on Virgil van Dijk and a disappointing start to the season meant the former Sunderland man was dropped for Robin Olsen.

Although Carlo Ancelotti insists Pickford will return to the fold for Manchester United’s visit, Olsen may have forced a rare selection headache on the Italian.

Despite finishing on the losing side, Olsen left a good first impression by producing excellent stops to deny Allan Saint-Maximin and Sean Longstaff.

Taking Pickford out of the firing line after a tough few weeks was sensible, but a return may not now be quite as guaranteed as it previously appeared.

Fringe players don’t take chances

 

Winning their opening four league matches showed what a force Everton can be when their strongest XI is out on the pitch.

But with four influential players missing through injury and suspension, this defeat again showed the alarming dearth in quality at Ancelotti’s disposal.

Niels Nkounkou had a decent Premier League debut but he and fellow full-back Jonjoe Kenny were withdrawn in the final quarter of this game.

Neither really showed enough to stake a claim ahead of Lucas Digne or Seamus Coleman when they both return to contention in the weeks ahead.

Gylfi Sigurdsson, Fabian Delph and Bernard will also be disappointed with their contributions as Everton’s attack toiled for a second game running.

Cenk Tosun offered nothing up front either when making his first appearance since December last year with a second-half introduction from the bench.

At this stage, Ancelotti was always dealing with a work-in-progress, but he will be worried by how reliant Everton still appear to be on their star names.

Remaining win-less in the Premier League without Richarlison since the Brazil international’s 2018 arrival hardly bodes well for next weekend, either.

The system doesn’t work

 

Nobody is above criticism, and it’s probably fair to say that Ancelotti got his approach wrong in the North East on Sunday.

There were no complaints about the defence and fewer about the change in between the sticks, but in midfield, Everton looked stodgy and motionless.

Perhaps it isn’t a surprise considering Ancelotti chose five central midfielders and played the most sluggish of them out wide in Gomes and Sigurdsson.

Gomes looked out of his depth and conceding the penalty capped off a terrible day, while Sigurdsson was similarly ineffective on the opposing flank.

With Anthony Gordon, seemingly Richarlison’s the most natural replacement, an unused substitute and more recognised wide men in Bernard and Iwobi also on the bench, it’s hard to know quite what Ancelotti’s plan was here.

Why the clash with Women’s final?

 

Loyalties were divided ahead of this game with Everton in action at the same time as their women’s team were stepping out for the FA Cup final.

Willie Kirk’s side kicked off their Wembley showdown with Manchester City half an hour after Ancelotti’s players took to the field at St James’ Park.

A petition drawn up by Anna, a 10-year-old season ticket holder at Goodison Park, for the Newcastle kick-off time to be staggered gained 2,500 signatures.

In a season still being played entirely without fans present, it seems perfectly feasible that Everton’s trip could have been moved – even at short notice.

Instead Evertonians were forced to choose between persevering with their weekend ritual or tuning in to watch a momentous day for the women’s side.

Unless Ancelotti’s plan was for his team to be so insipid that it encouraged supporters to switch channels and watch the women’s team instead, that is.