Everton beat Newcastle 3-1 in pre-season friendly at Murrayfield on August 12, 2026
Everton defeated Newcastle United 3-1 in a pre-season friendly at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, after a dominant first half put the Toffees in control. Thierno Barry opened the scoring in the 27th minute, Iliman Ndiaye converted a penalty in the 36th, Tyrique George added a third in the 73rd, and Harvey Barnes pulled one back for Newcastle in the 85th minute.
David Moyes has added four new players to Everton’s squad ahead of the new Premier League season, including midfielders Hayden Hackney (signed from Middlesbrough for £17m) and Christian Norgaard (signed from Arsenal for £6.9m). The club report Norgaard is still some way from 100% match fitness, while Hackney started the game and produced a solid if unspectacular midfield shift. Hackney’s partners Harrison Armstrong and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall were more influential on the night. The article notes Everton lost Idrissa Gana Gueye and Jack Grealish over the summer and states at least one more signing would be key for them to seriously challenge for the top half of the league.
The match’s opening goal came in the 27th minute when Thierno Barry finished a counter-attacking move by firing the ball into the bottom corner past Lukas Horincek. Ten minutes later Joelinton fouled Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall inside the penalty area and Iliman Ndiaye converted the spot-kick to make it 2-0. Newcastle started the second half positively, but Everton’s defence limited clear chances and Tyrique George extended the lead in the 73rd minute.
Thierno Barry’s background was referenced in the match report: after a difficult start to his first season in England he finished last campaign with eight goals and has been rotated with Beto by Moyes. Barry was credited with the opener in this fixture and described in the report as confident in his finish. The account includes a club social-media line: "Three goals and victory in our penultimate pre-season friendly! 🤩Back at home on Saturday! 💙".
Goalkeeper Mark Travers received praise for his evening, with the report stating he made several decent saves to deny Newcastle’s forwards; Travers was signed last season from Bournemouth for an initial fee of £4 million. The article contrasts Travers’s outing with Jordan Pickford’s long-standing status as Everton’s undisputed No. 1 and notes Pickford has missed only nine matches in as many seasons for the club, highlighting Everton’s historical difficulty finding a permanent backup.
Newcastle’s midfield was described as visibly weakened by the absence of Bruno Guimaraes; Joelinton and new signing Aladji Bamba started and were both substituted at half-time. The report records that Bamba completed just 23 passes and that Joelinton conceded the penalty converted by Ndiaye, with the piece adding Joelinton "had a proper nightmare." Newcastle managed five shots in total, with William Osula and Yoane Wissa described as anonymous and half-time substitutes Joe Willock and Nick Woltemade said to have failed to make an impact.
Everton’s 3-1 win was presented as the club’s penultimate pre-season friendly and the team indicated they return to a home venue on Saturday, according to the club’s social-media post. The result and player assessments will feed into final preparations ahead of the upcoming Premier League campaign.
