T should have been a night when the talk was about enthralling sport, emotional support and a game that epitomised all that is good about English football.
Instead, an old debate has been re-opened and this time, the bodies that govern the game will be under pressure to act fast.
After another calamitous mistake, one which deprived Everton of a richly deserved victory, the clamour for the introduction of goal-line technology has reached new levels.
Frantic finale: Victor Anichebe thought he had won the game for Everton with an 88th-minute strike...
... two minutes later, though, Demba Ba nudged a bouncing ball past Tim Howard and into the net
...but an earlier effort was the big talking point after the linesman failed to see the ball across the line
The Premier League have said they want to bring it in to play ‘as soon as is practically possible’ and, after this draw, Everton manager David Moyes was asking for it to happen even quicker.
The Scot understandably, was shattered that his team failed to collect three points from an absorbing tussle. With better fortune and arguably better officiating, Victor Anichebe and Marouane Fellaini would have put Everton out of reach.
‘I thought we had a couple of goals in the game that should have counted,’ said Moyes, referring to a header from Anichebe late in the second half that TV replays clearly showed to have crossed the line, and a strike from Fellaini that was wrongly adjudged offside.
‘The linesman is standing on the line, so you hope he sees it. I don’t know how he has missed them.
‘I told him after the game he had cost us a couple of goals. But there is nothing I can do about it. Technology will eventually come in.’
Significantly, his opposite number was in total agreement.
Tribute: Everton showed true class as they honoured the victims of Hillsborough before kick-off
‘My technical team told me it was over the line,’ said Newcastle boss Alan Pardew, referring to Anichebe’s 79th-minute header. ‘I have been saying for as long as anyone that technology must come in. It has cost Everton a crucial goal.’
It was such a shame that this topic ended up as the talking point. Everton for much of the contest were outstanding, playing with verve and swagger, but Newcastle made just as big a contribution in the second period.
Here were two fine sides, playing football in the spirit it is intended.
A draw may have been the final outcome, Demba Ba’s double cancelling out efforts from Leighton Baines and Anichebe, but it was an evening when football emerged victorious.
Baines in the backside: Everton defender Leighton handed the home side the lead early on
This was the first game played on Merseyside since the revelations about the Hillsborough disaster were published and, as was the case when they provided the opposition for Liverpool in their first game after the tragedy in 1989, Everton covered themselves in glory.
It has been a hugely emotional week on Merseyside. For all the joy and relief that came from Liverpool fans being exonerated by the Hillsborough Independent Panel, there remains pain and disbelief about the horrors that unfolded on the Leppings Lane terrace.
How best to mark the occasion was clearly something Everton had thought long and hard about. The display was wonderfully poignant and dignified without being sentimental and was a fitting tribute to their Red brothers and sisters.
Hit the post, literally: Nikica Jelavic's evening didn't last long after he collided with the upright
It had been mooted that You’ll Never Walk Alone would be played before kick-off but, instead, it was perhaps more fitting that The Hollies’ He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother rang out when the 96 names were shown on screens at either end of the stadium.
Their tribute was widely commended and, soon after, so was the football Everton produced.
Newcastle were also very poor.
‘We were shocking,’ fumed Pardew, who watched the game from the directors’ box, as he was serving the first of a two-game touchline ban. ‘The first half was as bad as we have been in my time here.’
Off the line: Newcastle themselves forced the hosts on the back foot, and Baines had to clear
The reprieve was only temporary as Baines gave Everton a 15th-minute lead. He exchanged passes with Fellaini before doing likewise with Steven Pienaar before smashing a drive beyond Harper.
Everton wasted good chances before the break and they were made to pay shortly after it when Ba, who came on as a substitute for Sylvain Marveaux, swept in after some poor defending.
Back in it: Second-half substitute Demba Ba took just four minutes to pull his side level
But Everton came back and, as Moyes said, should have been rewarded only for Fellaini to be wrongly ruled offside when running on to a Pienaar pass and then the same assistant, Ceri Richards, failing to spot Anichebe’s header crossing the line.
When Anichebe pounced in the 88th minute, it looked as if Everton had got their rewards but Ba had the final word, applying the dramatic end to a whirlwind night.
