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| Everton's English midfielder #07 Dwight McNeil is mobbed by teammates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Newcastle United at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on December 7, 2023. |
Everton scored three times in the final 11 minutes of a hectic encounter to beat Newcastle and move out of the Premier League's relegation zone.
The Toffees were sent tumbling into the bottom three by their 10-point deduction for breaking the top flight's financial rules, but moved back into safety thanks to late goals from Dwight McNeil, Abdoulaye Doucoure and summer signing Beto.
The hosts punished a pair of mistakes from Kieran Trippier, the first coming as McNeil pounced on a poor touch, drove forward and thumped a deflected effort into the net, before Doucoure coolly slotted home seven minutes later.
Beto then ran clear during 10 minutes of stoppage time and slid home his first league goal to make sure of the points as the home supporters wildly celebrated a deserved victory.
Before the late flurry, the Blues looked to be heading for a miserable night in front of goal having spurned a number of good chances in the opening period.
The returning Dominic Calvert-Lewin was unable to convert the best of those, controlling Jarrad Branthwaite's flick on onto his chest and volleying over from four yards out.
Newcastle had openings in the first half too but Trippier's free-kick and Miguel Almiron's scuffed effort after darting through were both kept out by Jordan Pickford.
In the second half the returning Anthony Gordon, who was jeered by the home supporters throughout the game following his January transfer to Newcastle, should have silenced the Goodison crowd when he picked off James Tarkowski's loose touch on the edge of the area but only stuck a low shot straight at Pickford.
Those three late goals mean the Toffees claw themselves out of the drop zone by leapfrogging Luton into 17th place, while Newcastle remain seventh behind Manchester United.
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