ANTHONY GORDON’S Goodison Park homecoming did not go to plan as he missed a penalty in Newcastle United’s goalless draw with Everton.

Gordon was jeered by the fans who supported him prior to his move to Tyneside in January 2023, but the 23-year-old had the chance to have the last laugh after James Tarkowski was penalised for pulling down Sandro Tonali in the first half.

However, Gordon’s spot-kick was poorly struck, enabling Jordan Pickford to keep the ball out down to his right.

Newcastle saw two efforts cleared off the line as they did most of the running on Merseyside, but for all that they were the better side, Eddie Howe’s side did not really do enough to merit claiming all three points.

Their passing play was sloppy, with possession being given away on a regular basis, and they lacked composure in the final third. On a night when a one-dimensional Everton side were there for the taking, the Magpies lacked the cutting edge and composure needed to fully expose their opponents’ limitations.

With Nick Pope and Fabian Schar both passed fit to start despite having been nursing minor knocks for most of last week, Howe named the same side that kicked off last weekend’s Premier League draw with Manchester City.

Newcastle began brightly, even if a string of sloppy early passes saw them cede possession on a regular basis, and went close to breaking the deadlock in the tenth minute.

Gordon’s corner was allowed to pass through to Bruno Guimaraes at the back post, but while the Brazilian fired a low effort towards goal, a backtracking Iliman Ndiaye managed to stab the ball away from the goalline.

Everton’s first opportunity came to nothing when Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired a low shot straight at Pope after turning inside Dan Burn, while at the other end, Jacob Murphy drilled a similar effort straight at Pickford after Kieran Trippier teed him up in the box.

It was an evenly-matched game, and while Abdoulaye Doucoure thought he had broken the deadlock when he headed home James Garner’s cross in the 18th minute, replays showed he had strayed well offside as he peeled off Schar.

Murphy curled a decent effort just over the top corner as Newcastle continued to press, and the Magpies were handed a great opportunity to open the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark.

James Tarkowski wrestled Sandro Tonali to the floor from a corner, and after he was instructed to consult his pitch-side screen, referee Craig Pawson awarded a penalty.

Gordon stepped up to take the spot-kick, but unlike last weekend, when he found the net against Manchester City, this time he was found wanting. The stand-in centre-forward went to Pickford’s left, but the England goalkeeper got down smartly to make an excellent save.

Pickford would have been called into action again at the start of the second half had Tarkowski not got in the way of a Tonali shot after Joelinton nodded a cross back into the path of the Italian midfielder, but as had been the case in the first half, while Newcastle got themselves into a number of decent positions after the interval, their final ball was often found wanting.

Guimaraes was wasteful just before the hour mark, lifting his shot from inside the area over the bar after a decent pull-back from Joelinton, but Everton to their substitute, Idrissa Gueye, in the 66th minute for an excellent goalline clearance that saw him nod away Tonali’s flicked effort from a corner.

Everton’s second-half attacking had been pretty much non-existent at that stage, but the hosts created their best chance of the game in the 67th minute.

Dwight McNeil floated a ball to Dominic Calvert Lewin in the area, but the striker’s low shot was saved by Pope. Calvert-Lewin went down wanting a penalty as he tried to get to the rebound, but replays showed he had kicked Burn’s leg rather than vice-versa.

It needed a moment of magic to give either side victory, but when Gordon was presented with another opportunity to be the match-winner with eight minutes left, he was once again found wanting.

Almiron rolled him into the right-hand side of the area, but while he timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap, Gordon blazed a wasteful effort over the crossbar.