It was not a happy return to Goodison Park for Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon on Thursday night.
The Magpies were beaten 3-0 by Everton, whose supporters spent the night booing Anthony Gordon as he returned to Merseyside – although they were a few occasions when they got confused and booed Bruno Guimaraes by mistake.
It was a tough night for Gordon, who headed into the game in wonderful form. He got the winner against Manchester United, leading to increased calls for him to be in the England squad.
The stage was set for him to be the pantomime villain on just his second appearance at Goodison Park as an away player. However, he ended up being the butt of the joke instead.
The 22-year-old Newcastle player did have multiple chances to score in the second half, but he squandered every opportunity he got. One of them was a golden chance, but his rushed effort was only good enough to sting the palms of Jordan Pickford.
Gordon will be eager to forget Thursday night’s defeat, and now former Toon goalkeeper Shay Given has provided his verdict on the winger’s performance.
Shay Given thinks Anthony Gordon was ‘trying too hard’ against Everton
Given spoke to Amazon Prime after Newcastle’s 3-0 loss against Everton, and gave his thoughts on Gordon’s performance.
“Anthony Gordon, I thought he played alright,” he said.
“He got a lot of stick from the home fans as you can imagine, asking him what the score was at 3-0.
“He had chances before Everton scored. He cut in a few times. At times you thought he was trying too hard. Hitting over the bar, hitting it wide. He just needed a bit more finesse in front of goal.”
A tough return to Everton for Newcastle winger Gordon
It did seem like Gordon was trying too hard to score. He was clearly desperate to impress against his former club, but that actually had a negative impact on his performance.
While it was a poor night overall, Newcastle did have opportunities at Goodison Park. A lot of them fell to Gordon, but he did not do himself justice with any of them.
He will be massively disappointed with his efforts, but he must forget about them quickly. Newcastle have another big game on Sunday, with Eddie Howe’s side heading to the capital to take on Tottenham Hotspur.
Then a few days later it is AC Milan in the Champions League, which is set to be the Magpies’ biggest game of the season to date. Howe will need his best players to deliver against the Serie A giants, and that includes Gordon.
His return to Everton did not go to plan, but he must put it to the back of his mind as soon as possible.
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