Everton found themselves frustrated as they were held to a draw by Newcastle.

Salomon Rondon had opened the scoring for the visitors early in the first half when he slotted home a Jacob Murphy cross against the run of play.

Richarlison drew the Blues level just minutes before the interval with a far-post finish after Gylfi Sigurdsson’s corner broke for him in Newcaslte’s penalty box.

Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:

Pickford bounces back

 

Life after a Merseyside derby howler can be a lonely existence, and Jordan Pickford faced a potential baptism of fire against his former nemesis.

Newcastle’s fans mercilessly taunted the ex-Sunderland goalkeeper about his recent blunder, but he need not have worried about his stock among Evertonians.

From the second his name was read out on the team sheet, Goodison Park left the stopper under no illusions that he remains very much revered by them.

A dependable performance between the sticks also helped Pickford in the healing process as he routinely kept Newcastle at bay throughout Wednesday’s stalemate.

There was little he could have done about Salomon Rondon’s opener, however the visitors were unable to find a way past him again despite a host of chances.

As the scoreboard later declared, there’s a reason why he is England’s number-one.

Blues finally turn the corner, literally

 

The law of averages dictated that Everton’s corner ratio would eventually improve.

Few envisaged that it would take until the 93rd attempts to find a breakthrough.

Richarlison’s near-post finish ended an unwelcome statistic for Marco Silva’s side in a game where they had won a combined 14 corner kicks against the Magpies.

Set pieces have become the Blues’ forte down the years, not least when Leighton Baines was operating at left-back, yet the recent barren run appeared ominous.

Finally, they appear to have turned a literal corner.

Benitez remains Goodison’s nemesis

 

Across almost 20 outings, Rafael Benitez has remained the scourge of Goodison.

With both Liverpool and Chelsea, the Spaniard racked up 10 victories and has only tasted defeat five times. His 19th meeting continued that frustrating theme.

His Newcastle side refused to take the prospect of a third Everton defeat in two seasons lying down and it was reflected in a dogged approach in the second half.

Conceding fouls came easier to Benitez’s players after the break while his notorious defensive approach made for a dogged affair for the hosts.

The clubs may change but Benitez still enjoys a credible return on his routine trips to the blue half of Merseyside – much to the Grand Old Lady’s frustrations.

Keane recall required after defensive chaos

 

A new-found wealth of squad options has afforded Silva the luxury of rotation.

But sometimes there is a case for having too much of a good thing as he discovered when attempting to rest Michael Keane following his derby exertions.

Kurt Zouma’s return to the starting line-up should have put forward an argument that Everton’s first-choice defensive pairing was not a foregone conclusion.

Instead, it simply reaffirmed that assumption. The France international struggled to assert himself and was culpable in allowing Rondon to open the scoring.

It had a knock-on effect on Yerry Mina, too, who appeared hugely out of sorts as Newcastle were allowed to take a previously unlikely lead against the run of play.

Alongside Keane, the ex-Barcelona man had become a highly dependable and imposing presence. Natural order must be restored for Watford’s visit next week.