Everton 1-4 Newcastle: Callum Wilson scores twice as top four-chasing Magpies win again

There were 15 minutes left when the third goal sailed into Jordan Pickford’s net but enough was enough. Solemnly, this wonderful old stadium began to empty and you could not help but feel this was reflective of the bigger picture.

Everton have got five games left to preserve their status in the Premier League but the mass exodus was the clearest indication yet: the locals, who have stood by the team through such misery, have finally had their resolve broken. The Championship, disgracefully, is beckoning.

Everything about Everton screamed relegation – the second half collapse, the horrible lack of quality and the disappearance of fight on the pitch. By the end of the game they could not lose, they were a disjointed rabble and Newcastle couldn’t believe their good fortune.

Eddie Howe’s men had to stand firm at times but, as the locals streamed out, they were playing with the confidence of a team who know they are bounding enthusiastically towards the Champions League: with another 10 minutes, they would have beaten Everton as heavily as they thrashed Tottenham.

What a year this has been for Howe and the same is true for Everton but for entirely different reasons. This has been an affront to those who have stood by them week after week, investing money and emotion, and getting nothing back in return. If the team played as well as the supporters back them, they, too, would be dreaming of big European nights. Not now.

It was a dismal night for Everton as they failed to claim anything for their relegation battle

By contrast, Newcastle were at their marauding best and looked every inch Champions League competitors ahead of next season’s almost-certain inclusion

Sean Dyche has work to do as he prepares for an almighty fight to stay in the Premier League

To think the night had started with such defiance. Everton’s coach was welcomed at the stadium by the kind of visceral intensity you would associate with Buenos Aires or Naples, with plumes of blue smoke billowing from all corners of Goodison Road.

No ground in England radiates this kind of manic frenzy and, judging by some of the faces of the players as they stepped off the bus, it’s safe to deduce that it took them by surprise. It shouldn’t have done. It should have made them want to run through brick walls to secure safety.

They started brightly enough, chasing and pressing and trying to win the loose balls. Newcastle, by contrast, were a little sluggish, far removed from the cyclone that dragged Tottenham into a vortex five days earlier and you felt they were they were to be attacked.

One of Everton’s main problems, though, is that they carry the threat of a guard dog with no teeth. They are never going to clamp onto opponents or snap away with menace because they don’t have any goals within their ranks and you struggle to see how that will suddenly change.

So this was always going to be fraught with danger. What was going to happen when the initial effort petered away? Could they stay composed enough to keep Newcastle at arms’ length and not getting suckered into the frustrating time-wasting tactics that Howe encourages.

The answer was no. Everton had got one little sight of Nick Pope’s goal in the 18th minute, when Calvert-Lewin twisted inside Fabian Schar but then lost his footing, but the first time they switched off, just before the half-hour, proved to be fatal.

In the blink of an eye, Newcastle swept down the left, Matt Targett nudging Joelinton forward. The Brazilian had seemed troubled by a hamstring issue, wearing protective black tape on the back of his left leg, but it didn’t stop him twisting inside Ben Godfrey.

Callum Wilson’s opener came against the run of play after an energetic start from the Toffees

Dominic Calvert-Lewin had a goal ruled out before the break which proved an ominous sign

Jordan Pickford took matters into his own hands after deeming Sean Longstaff’s going to ground an unnecessary show of Newcastle’s ‘dark arts’

From nowhere, Joelinton cracked a drive that Jordan Pickford parried. England’s goalkeeper needed some luck but none was forthcoming as Wilson stole in ahead of Vitalii Mykolenko and prodded in his fifth goal since the start of April. Bedlam in the away end, bewilderment amongst the locals.

How were they going to respond? This wasn’t a question of the players, initially, it was more about the crowd. The sight of the ball nestling in the Gwladys Street net was like someone had pressed a giant mute button, the increasing sense of peril gripping.

Eventually they regrouped and they finished the half strongly, only the tightest of VAR decisions preventing Calvert-Lewin from scoring. There were millimetres in it, as tight as John Stones’s header against Arsenal. When things aren’t going for you, however, these calls go the other way.

Although Everton pulled one back, Dwight McNeil’s corner was quickly followed by another goal at the other end of the pitch

Wilson’s sublime strike for the Magpies’ third had the home fans starting to make their exit

Jacob Murphy’s goal came after an immense spell of individual quality from Alexander Isak

Newcastle looked as strong as they did against Tottenham, having shored up their position in third in the table

Goodison Park was nearly empty by the time the referee blew the final whistle 

Challenges against Manchester City and Brighton are yet to come for the crisis-hit club

To their credit, Everton didn’t let their heads drop. They returned with zest and the crowd had fire and it led to one of those spells when the ball was punted up the field quickly and regularly, trying to cause disarray. Occasionally it works and a team, as Tottenham did, can melt.

Yet there was something too chaotic about it this time. Pressure can lead to strange decisions being made and seeing Michael Keane thrash a cross high and wide, like he was clearing his lines, or watching Abdoulaye Doucoure swipe horribly at a ball he should have controlled said so much.

And once Joelinton scored the decisive second, that was it. Everton collapsed and Newcastle turned the screw. Wilson doubled his tally with a beautiful lob, while Jacob Murphy swiftly made Dwight McNeil’s effort from a corner inconsequential.