´I back myself on penalties´, says Everton´s spot-kick hero Pickford

Jordan Pickford said he fancied Anthony Gordon would switch up his penalty routine after scoring his last two spot-kicks for Newcastle United.

Gordon was a livewire for Newcastle against Everton on Saturday, though the England international ultimately fluffed his lines in the biggest moment of the 0-0 draw at Goodison Park.

With 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Gordon failed to beat his former club-mate Pickford from 12 yards after James Tarkowski had fouled Sandro Tonali.

The Goodison faithful were in a buoyant mood after seeing Gordon, who left Everton for Newcastle in 2023, squander his big chance, though the Toffees could not craft an opening at the other end, albeit Dominic Calvert-Lewin was perhaps unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty of his own.

Nevertheless, Everton held firm to make it three Premier League games unbeaten and secure their first clean sheet of the campaign.

Pickford and Gordon spoke on the pitch at full-time, and the England goalkeeper told Sky Sports: “He asked me why I went that way. I just said both his penalties before had gone right, so I fancied him going to the left, which he did.

“I back myself on pens, it’s the first one I’ve saved for Everton in a while.”

It marked Pickford’s sixth penalty save from 33 spot-kicks faced in the league during his time at Everton, and his first stop since a crucial one from James Maddison against Leicester City in May 2023.

Newcastle, meanwhile, have had two of their last three Premier League penalties saved (one goal), having scored 23 of their previous 24 spot kicks in the competition.

Asked if it helped going up against a player he knows well in Gordon, Pickford said: “I watched the game [against Man City] and he reversed it against Ederson, and he went the same way the game before so I just fancied him going goalkeeper’s left.

“It hit me off my knee, straight off my beak [nose]. I don’t think Ant executed it to perfection, he’ll be disappointed, but I’m there to make the save and that’s what I’ve done.

“It’s like trying to double-bluff each other – I’ve got the better of him, it’s a big moment and managed to get us a draw. Now we move forward.”

The boss dissects tonight’s action and incidents as we settle for a point heading into the international break. #EVENEW pic.twitter.com/k8nlt1qP5L

— Everton (@Everton) October 5, 2024

Eddie Howe, meanwhile, said his team took “big steps forward” despite not getting the three points.

“I have to credit the players because it is a difficult environment to play in and it is a much better defensive display from us too. Big steps forward,” Howe told BBC Sport.

“We stood up to the physical test and were technically very good. We are trying to break barriers and have an outstanding season. I think we are capable of more and we have some tough fixtures to come.

“Anthony handled the occasion very well. I think his all-round game was very good. He will be disappointed with the penalty. But credit to Pickford for the save.”

This was just Newcastle’s third clean sheet in their last 32 Premier League away games – they had recorded three consecutive shutouts on the road before this run.

Since the start of last season, meanwhile, only Arsenal (21) and Liverpool (15) have kept more Premier League clean sheets than Everton (14).