Anthony Gordon's reaction to Newcastle United penalty miss - and Everton atmosphere

The Magpies were awarded a spot-kick midway through the first-half when VAR intervened for James Tarkowski’s shirt pull on Sandro Tonali. Referee Craig Pawson was sent to the monitor before pointing to the spot.

Gordon stepped up against his former club but was denied by England teammate Jordan Pickford.

The 23-year-old played the full game at Goodison Park and led the line in Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson’s absence. Howe’s side were held to a frustrating goalless draw.

Howe said: “Naturally he'll be disappointed. It was a much better performance from him today than last year so I thought he dealt with the occasion today really well. Tactically he gave them a problem going deep and he did really well.

“He had his moments and had a chance at the end of the game as well but his overall performance was very good.

“Anyone can miss a penalty and we absolutely support him, he's been incredible for us but I thought today was a positive game for him.”

Howe added: “Yeah I thought he handled the disappointment really well because I know from personal experience, not in terms of missing penalties, but making a mistake or a moment goes against you, it can play on your mind because you know you’re not going to be able to replay it so it can affect you negatively but I don’t think it did today.

“I think he really learnt from last season’s game here and of course his international experience, and lots of other things that he’s adding to his game to be able to deal with these situations. There was a lot of pressure on him at that moment.

“He’s been an outstanding penalty taker, I’ve seen him work on it every day in training so I’ve got no issues with him taking it or taking another one in the future. We really do back him and I think he did really well today.”