Gordon penalty agony as Newcastle held by Everton

LIVERPOOL, England : Anthony Gordon missed a penalty against his former side to spark an almighty roar from the home fans as Newcastle United were held to a 0-0 draw by Everton in a feisty Premier League clash at Goodison Park on Saturday.

Newcastle were correctly awarded a spot-kick in the first half when James Tarkowski hauled down Sandro Tonali in the box, but Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved Gordon’s poor penalty with his legs.

The visitors had several other chances to win the game and were the better side, but Everton might have taken all three points themselves as they had an Abdoulaye Doucoure header ruled out for offside and Idrissa Gueye missed an open goal.

The point leaves Newcastle in sixth place in the standings with 12 points from their seven matches, while Everton are in 16th place with five points.

Gordon was the villain of the piece for both sets of fans following his acrimonious exit from Goodison Park last year.

He also had a chance late on when faced with just Pickford to beat from a narrow angle but fired over the crossbar.

"We will always back Gordan to score them, he has been an amazing player for us since he signed," Newcastle defender Dan Burn said. "It is one of those things. We wanted to pull a result out for him because he is hurting a bit.

"It was a better performance away from home. We battled well but I am disappointed not to get the three points."

Newcastle came close when Bruno Guimaraes’ shot at the back post beat Pickford but not Iliman Ndiaye on the goal line.

Doucoure had the ball in the net from a sumptuous James Garner cross but was a yard offside, before Tarkowski’s moment of madness gifted Newcastle the opportunity for the opener.

The foul was not spotted immediately, but a VAR