Everton breeze past lacklustre Newcastle in Murrayfield friendly

Matthias Jaissle was given a hint of the task in hand as Newcastle boss as Premier League rivals Everton strolled to a comfortable 3-1 win in a pre-season friendly at Murrayfield.

In his second friendly game in charge, Jaissle witnessed how ruthless and unforgiving Premier League teams can be as goals from Thierno Barry, Iliman Ndiaye and Tyrique George resulted in a commanding win for the Toffees.

Harvey Barnes scored a late consolation for the Toon, who made 10 changes at half-time with Jaissle seemingly happy to use this fixture as a chance to assess his squad.

It was a typical Moyes performance: disciplined, organised and efficient without the ball, with Everton happy to frustrate Newcastle and punish them when opportunities came their way before taking control in the second half.

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Barry, new signing Hayden Hackney and George all impressed and looked in excellent nick as Everton produced a performance that would have pleased Moyes, particularly given the intensity of their work out of possession ahead of their Premier League opener with Crystal Palace on Saturday 22 August.

Newcastle, by contrast, looked a side still searching for their identity. There were encouraging moments, but the game became increasingly difficult to judge after Jaissle made wholesale changes in the second half, weakening his side and disrupting their rhythm.

Everton were sharper and more cohesive, and ultimately deserved their victory.

Pre-season results can be misleading and there is clearly time for Newcastle to improve, but with only 11 days until the start of their Premier League season, they remain a big work in progress.

And their challenge on the opening weekend could hardly be bigger: Liverpool are the visitors to St James' Park, live on Sky Sports.

On this evidence, Newcastle have plenty of work ahead of them before that encounter.

'Newcastle fans will be concerned about the season ahead'

Sky Sports News' Keith Downie at Murrayfield:

"That performance showed me that Newcastle desperately need some experience in that team. They have lost Kieran Trippier, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon and replaced them with youngsters. When things went wrong in this game, some of the players had no leaders to look to.

"It was clear that they need reinforcements.

"Everton looked more streetwise and organised. There's a real concern ahead of the season that Newcastle could be gobbled up by top half teams if they don't add some experience.

"Of the new signings only Lukas Hornícek and Bazoumana Touré look ready to start. It's a big week and a half until the window closes.

"Newcastle fans will be concerned about the season ahead and the direction of the club."

More to follow...