ST JAMES' PARK — Hayden Hackney produced a moment of composure beyond his years to steer Everton past Newcastle United and into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, as the visitors claimed a 2-1 victory at St James' Park on Thursday.
The result ended Newcastle's campaign in the fourth round and set up a last-eight tie against League Two Fleetwood Town, a fixture that offers Everton a realistic chance of ending a 31-year wait for a major trophy.
The unwanted headline of the build-up was the omission of Jack Grealish, who was dropped from the squad over what is understood to have been an unauthorised absence from training. Instead, it was the club's younger players who came to the fore. Hayden Hackney, a £16.5m summer signing from Middlesbrough, assisted James Garner's opening goal before scoring Everton's second with a close-range volley.
The central midfielder, who was named Championship player of the year last season, has needed to be patient early in his Everton career. After starting the opening game of the season — a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace — his only subsequent start prior to Thursday's cup victory was in the third round of the same competition against Wolves. The fourth-round win was only the second time in his career he had scored and assisted in the same game, but he knitted together phases of possession and carried the ball with the confidence that has characterised his rise.
Newcastle, for their part, were eliminated from the competition despite a home crowd eager for progression. The result underscores the thin margins of the Carabao Cup, where youth and momentum can overturn established reputations on a single evening.
