Frank Lampard admits Everton have “work to be done” to become more clinical in the final third after a performance that provided positives in parts was not enough to prevent a narrow 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United.
Miguel Almiron’s 31st-minute winner proved the difference between two sides that Lampard said were “closely-matched” throughout the contest at St James’ Park.
Everton were dominant for large parts of the second half and put together bright passages of play without troubling Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope.
The Blues boss also felt his side should have been awarded a penalty shortly after Newcastle’s goal when Anthony Gordon went down in the area after a push by defender Dan Burn.
With Everton having also been edged out in recent losses to Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, Lampard conceded it was a frustrating night but insisted there were positives to take back to Merseyside.
“It was frustrating in that we lost the game,” he said post-match. “I thought the performance was pretty good in footballing terms. We more than held our own, especially at the beginning of the game to silence the crowd before they scored.
“In the second half we opened them up a lot but we just didn’t have that bit in the final third. It was two closely-matched teams in the game but in both boxes we were a bit short tonight.
“In a game like this it’s not always easy but we can be much more clinical. The amount of times we played really well, played through their midfield line, but got the last pass wrong or the pass before that wrong. If you do that, it’s hard to get clear-cut chances so there’s certainly work to be done on that level.”
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Lampard was encouraged by a first start of the season for Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
After coming off the bench in the Blues’ previous two matches, the England international was handed a spot in the first XI following his recovery from a knee injury sustained on the eve of the campaign.
Calvert-Lewin lasted 72 minutes before being replaced by Neal Maupay, and Lampard was pleased with the striker’s impact.
“I thought he looked okay,” added the manager. “We had to bring him off after 70 minutes because we have a game on Saturday, and we had to take that into account for a lot of our players who have played a lot of minutes.
“Dominic’s playing his first game in a long time and I thought he was a handful but we’re going to have to give him more service in and around the box.
“I thought we could have pushed more towards the end as well. It’s frustrating because I thought there were a lot of good aspects in that performance but not enough cutting edge.
“We’ve come through a period of playing Manchester United and Tottenham and Newcastle away – they are really tough matches and they’ve been close games. If you look at things that could go in your favour – I think we could have had a penalty tonight. But the spirit of the team is good, some of the play was good. There are positives for us to build on.”
