Barry's goal sinks Newcastle and lifts Everton to seventh

Newcastle were booed off at St James' Park on Monday night after a 1-0 defeat by Everton, and the goal that decided it said more about the team that conceded it than the one that scored. Thierno Barry forced the ball in from close range after 49 minutes following a set piece. VAR checked the build-up and confirmed the goal. Everton, who had not won away in the Premier League this season, moved up to seventh.

The home side had 17 shots and two on target. Everton had 16 and five. Newcastle had 51.6 percent of the ball, four corners and 33 clearances, and the shape of their evening was a long spell of possession that ended with a cross into a crowded box and a blue shirt heading it away. The crowd's patience ran out well before the players' legs did.

Barry's goal and the VAR check

Everton's winner began with a set piece, and it was not a clean strike. The first contact was blocked, the ball dropped inside the six-yard box, and Barry reached it before anyone in black and white. His right-footed shot went into the centre of the goal. The referee and the VAR looked at the phase for an offside and for a push, found neither, and the goal stood.

Barry's season has been one of the quieter stories of Everton's autumn. BBC Sport published a feature on Tuesday tracing his revival from a difficult first season, and the forward credited hard work rather than a change of role. David Moyes has used him as the fixed point of an attack that has scored nine goals in nine league games, and the forward now has a goal to show for the work.

Seventeen shots and two on target

The shot count is the match in one line. Newcastle had 17 attempts and put two on target. Everton had 16 attempts and put five on target, and their goalkeeper made two saves while Newcastle's made four. Newcastle also committed 13 fouls to Everton's nine and cleared the ball 33 times, which is not the profile of a side controlling a game at home.

Most of Newcastle's possession arrived in front of Everton's back four rather than behind it. They crossed 24 times and found a teammate with seven. Everton crossed 22 times and found a teammate with seven as well, but they had a centre-forward waiting in the middle and a lead to protect, and the difference between those two things is the whole result.

The game also had four injury stoppages, for Lewis Hall, Fabian Schär, James Garner and Barry, and the second half ran to 100 minutes. Neither side used that time well. Everton spent it clearing, Newcastle spent it crossing, and the only moment of quality in the second half was the finish that decided it.

Ramsey's second yellow

Jacob Ramsey came on for Joelinton after 75 minutes and was off by the 98th. He was booked for a foul in the sixth minute of stoppage time and booked again two minutes later, and the second yellow ended his night. Dan Burn had been booked after 32 minutes, Tyrique George after 52, and Schär and Brennan Johnson after 99. Newcastle finished with ten men and no time to use the advantage.

The substitutions told their own story. Newcastle brought on Yoane Wissa, Sean Steur, Ramsey, Jacob Murphy and Bazoumana Touré, five changes, and none of them changed the direction of the game. Everton brought on Brennan Johnson, Michael Keane and Hayden Hackney to see out the last ten minutes, and the shape held.

The table after nine games

Everton are seventh on 13 points, two behind Brentford in sixth. Newcastle are 13th on 11, with three wins, two draws and four defeats, 12 goals scored and 15 conceded. The eight clubs between sixth and 13th are separated by three points, which is the shape of a league where a single Monday night can move a team four places, and the next round of fixtures will move it again.

Everton's nine goals are the fewest of any side in the top half, which is the other side of the same result.

For Everton the number that matters is the away column. Three wins and four draws from nine games is not a season that will trouble the top four, but it is a season that will not spend the spring looking over its shoulder.

Jaissle, the boos and what comes next

Matthias Jaissle said afterwards that his players had not done what he told them. The line was reported by BBC Sport, and it is the sort of sentence that buys a manager a week and costs him a dressing room if it is repeated. Jamie Carragher, working for Sky Sports, called Newcastle flat and boring. The Telegraph reported that sections of the crowd had turned on the manager.

The table gives the argument some weight. Eleven points from nine games, 12 goals scored and 15 conceded are the numbers of a side that has not settled on a way of playing. Newcastle had the ball for most of Monday night and put two shots on target with it.

Everton host Coventry City on Friday at 20:00 UTC, according to the fixture list. Newcastle have a week to find an answer before their next league game.

• Everton: 13 points from nine games, seventh, first away league win of the season.
• Newcastle: 11 points from nine, 13th, 12 scored and 15 conceded.
• Ramsey: came on at 75 minutes, booked at 90+6 and sent off at 90+8.
• Next for Everton: Coventry City at home on Friday, 20:00 UTC.

The full Premier League table is on the tables page, the rest of the weekend is in the Premier League section, and the next fixtures are on the matches page.