Newcastle United advanced within a point of Everton in the Premier League after their feisty 3-1 win at St James’ Park and Frank Lampard exhibited class as he saluted the Magpies’ laudable performance.
Lampard gamely paid tribute to a ‘very effective’ Newcastle United besides tipping his hat off to the ‘unplayable’ Allan Saint-Maximin following Everton’s 3-1 loss to the Magpies.
The former Blues top scorer and manager’s side had surged into the lead at St James’ Park on Tuesday night after Jamaal Lascelles fumbled the ball into his own net in the 36th minute, yet Newcastle quickly bounced back and responded brilliantly to that setback as Mason Holgate scored an own goal of his own just a minute later before Ryan Fraser sent the hosts in front after the break after getting on the end of Saint-Maximin’s cross.
Kieran Trippier then effectively rammed the final nail into the casket with a brilliant free-kick as Newcastle moved out of the relegation zone for the first time since October.
However, despite the result leaving Everton just one point above Newcastle in 16th place, Lampard showed his true class as always by complimenting the black-and-whites’ display post-match.
“You have to give Newcastle credit,” the Everton boss told reporters on Zoom. “They came out firing. The crowd were lively and they’re very effective in the way they play.
“We expected crosses. We expected balls into [Chris] Wood. It went that way and Saint-Maximin on a night like this is pretty unplayable at any level of football.
“There are things on their side they did well and things on our side we didn’t do so well.”
The former Blues all-time record goal-scorer should know fully well what he’s talking about as, despite the remarkable success he has enjoyed over the years, the 43-year-old has had some kick-butt tough nights at St James’, having won just seven of his 16 games on Tyneside with West Ham and Chelsea as a player and recording even worse results as a manager.
Lampard has friends who are Newcastle fans and the new Everton boss was quick to warn his players about the raucously ‘hot’ atmosphere they would be facing.
“I told them to handle it. I’ve got experience of this atmosphere and it’s hot,” he added.
“It can start a game hot and I thought it did for five minutes. We started to take the sting out of that, which was good, and then we scored a goal and then we conceded straight away, which allowed the atmosphere to rise.
“Some things are in-game things you can’t control from my point of view, but to be aware of the atmosphere is up to me to explain to the players and they were very aware of that.”