‘We matched them well’ – Langley pleased with Newcastle United’s performance against Everton | OneFootball

Newcastle United head coach Becky Langley was pleased with her side’s performance as they held Everton to a 1-1 draw at Kingston Park last night in the Women’s League Cup.

Demi Stokes fired Newcastle United ahead after five minutes but Emma Bissell levelled matters for Everton in the second half. A penalty shootout was then required to determine the destination of the bonus point. Everton converted all of their spot kicks as they won the shootout 3-0.

When speaking in the post-match press conference, Newcastle United boss Langley said that she was pleased with her side’s performance.

“I’m really pleased,” Langley said. “We worked on the strategy during the week and how we wanted to be without the ball. We wanted to be quite direct and purposeful with the ball and I thought we executed that game plan really well, which is credit to the girls.

“It’s a good point but disappointing because we wanted to win it and we wanted to win the penalty shootout but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Discussing her side’s performance further, Langley said that Newcastle United went into the game to win and admitted that The Magpies were unlucky to not go into half-time with a two-goal lead.

She said “We started on a really positive footing and I’m pleased that Demi [Stokes] got her first goal for the club. Katie [Barker] may be disappointed not to have made it two at the back post but it was the perfect start.

“We didn’t want to be fearful going into the game, we wanted to play to win. When we played them in pre-season, we probably gave them too much respect, so it was about making sure that we put that right today.”

Everton were Newcastle United’s first-ever top tier opponents at Kingston Park. The Magpies still have steps to take to reach Everton’s level but Langley was pleased to see her side match The Toffees last night.

She said “Everton are a really good side and Brian [Sørensen] is a very good coach. They are so fluid in terms of their in-possession and off the ball movements.

“We’ve got to get to that level and it is going to take time. It’s our first season in the Championship, so to make that step up is a big step up but I thought we competed really well tonight.

“There were some experienced players out there for Everton and they brought some stronger players on towards the end of the game which made it even tougher but I thought we matched them well.”

Newcastle United are back in Barclays Women’s Championship action on Sunday when they play host to Durham at Kingston Park.