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• 'I back myself on penalties', says Everton's spot-kick hero Pickford

  Jordan Pickford said he fancied Anthony Gordon would switch up his penalty routine after scoring his last two spot-kicks for Newcastle United.

  Gordon was a livewire for Newcastle against Everton on Saturday, though the England international ultimately fluffed his lines in the biggest moment of the 0-0 draw at Goodison Park.

  With 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Gordon failed to beat his former club-mate Pickford from 12 yards after James Tarkowski had fouled Sandro Tonali.

  The Goodison faithful were in a buoyant mood after seeing Gordon, who left Everton for Newcastle in 2023, squander his big chance, though the Toffees could not craft an opening at the other end, albeit Dominic Calvert-Lewin was perhaps unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty of his own.

  Nevertheless, Everton held firm to make it three Premier League games unbeaten and secure their first clean sheet of the campaign.

  Pickford and Gordon spoke on the pitch at full-time, and the England goalkeeper told Sky Sports: "He asked me why I went that way. I just said both his penalties before had gone right, so I fancied him going to the left, which he did.

  "I back myself on pens, it’s the first one I’ve saved for Everton in a while."

  It marked Pickford's sixth penalty save from 33 spot-kicks faced in the league during his time at Everton, and his first stop since a crucial one from James Maddison against Leicester City in May 2023.

  Newcastle, meanwhile, have had two of their last three Premier League penalties saved (one goal), having scored 23 of their previous 24 spot kicks in the competition.

  Asked if it helped going up against a player he knows well in Gordon, Pickford said: "I watched the game [against Man City] and he reversed it against Ederson, and he went the same way the game before so I just fancied him going goalkeeper's left.

  "It hit me off my knee, straight off my beak [nose]. I don't think Ant executed it to perfection, he'll be disappointed, but I’m there to make the save and that’s what I’ve done.

  "It's like trying to double-bluff each other – I've got the better of him, it’s a big moment and managed to get us a draw. Now we move forward."

  Eddie Howe, meanwhile, said his team took "big steps forward" despite not getting the three points.

  "I have to credit the players because it is a difficult environment to play in and it is a much better defensive display from us too. Big steps forward," Howe told BBC Sport.

  "We stood up to the physical test and were technically very good. We are trying to break barriers and have an outstanding season. I think we are capable of more and we have some tough fixtures to come.

  "Anthony handled the occasion very well. I think his all-round game was very good. He will be disappointed with the penalty. But credit to Pickford for the save."

  This was just Newcastle’s third clean sheet in their last 32 Premier League away games – they had recorded three consecutive shutouts on the road before this run.

  Since the start of last season, meanwhile, only Arsenal (21) and Liverpool (15) have kept more Premier League clean sheets than Everton (14).

• Al-Ahli 1-2 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic double keeps Saudi champions perfect

  Aleksandar Mitrovic proved to be the difference once again for Al-Hilal as the reigning Saudi Pro League champions beat Al-Ahli 2-1 on Saturday.

  Al-Ahil went in front with 12 minutes played when Gabri Veiga was sent through on goal by Franck Kessie, with the Spaniard rounding Yassine Bounou to open the scoring at King Abdullah Sports City. 

  The hosts went close to doubling their advantage soon after, with Riyad Mahrez and Ivan Toney going close, before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic saw his effort cleared off the line at the other end.

  But parity was restored early in the second half through Al-Hilal's master marksman, as Mitrovic nodded home a trademark header from Renan Lodi's delivery. 

  Al-Ahil were then awarded a penalty when Rayan Hamed fouled Malcom inside the box, only for Mitrovic to see his effort saved by Abdulrahman Al Sanbi. 

  However, the Serbian was given the chance to redeem himself after the VAR deemed encroachment had taken place, and he made no mistake at the second time of asking to net his 14th goal of the season in all competitions. 

  Data Debrief: Mitrovic the main man

  Mitrovic has been in fine form since his move to Saudi Arabia, with his latest double taking his tally to 54 goals in as many appearances for Al-Hilal. 

  This time out, he contributed 1.16 expected goals (xG) tally to the visitors' 2.24 total, while also recording the most touches in the opposition box (six). 

  Malcom also impressed for Al-Hilal, creating more chances (three) than anyone on the pitch, with his 14 passes into the final third a total only bettered by Ruben Neves (18) and Salem Al Dawsari (15) among his team-mates. 

• Brentford defeat 'my worst game as a coach', says O'Neil

  Gary O'Neil believes Wolves' 5-3 defeat against Brentford was his "worst game as a coach" as the visitors remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table. 

  Nathan Collins' second-minute header was cancelled out by Matheus Cunha soon after, only for in-form Bryan Mbeumo to put the Bees in front from the penalty spot. 

  Jorgen Strand Larsen levelled the game once again, but the hosts then raced into a 4-2 lead by the break thanks to efforts from Christian Norgaard and Ethan Pinnock. 

  The final two goals of an enthralling encounter came in the closing stages, with Fabio Carvalho scoring Brentford's fifth before Rayan Ait-Nouri netted a late consolation.

  Wolves are now winless in their first seven games of the 2024-25 Premier League season (D1 L6), their worst run at the start of a top-flight campaign since 2003-04, when they also went without a win in their first seven (D2 L5). 

  They have also managed just one win in their last 17 league matches, but it was the manner in which his team collapsed that left O'Neil feeling downcast.

  "It's the furthest I've seen the group from what we wanted to look like. An unbelievably disappointing afternoon for us. Crazy, crazy goals we gave away," O'Neil said. 

  "There's a lot to think about and a lot to put right. We’ll get straight to work. Some players will be away [on international duty] but we need to find a way for the team to be better than this afternoon.

  "Today was so loose. [We made] crazy decisions with and without the ball. It was a really poor performance.

  "The responsibility is on me. Of course, the players are going to make decisions, but I need to give them something that makes them make better decisions than they made today, make fewer mistakes than we made today. It’s the worst game I’ve been involved in as a coach.

  “I'll do the best I can with the group I have. The club do what they can do off the pitch. My responsibility is to find results. This league can be tough. There are no hiding places. We can do better than that."

  For Thomas Frank and Brentford, they continued their impressive home form in the Premier League this term. 

  The Bees are now unbeaten in their first four home games of the 2024-25 Premier League season (W3 D1), their longest such run at the start of a top-flight campaign since 1936-37.

  Saturday's triumph was also their first home league win against Wolves since a 3-0 win in the Championship back in February 2016.

  They also netted four first-half goals for the second time in the Premier League following their 4-0 win over Manchester United back in August 2022. 

  Brentford continued their lightning starts to matches this campaign, with Collins' opener coming after a minute and 15 seconds, with the Bees falling agonisingly short of scoring inside the first minute for the fourth game running. 

  "We've been practising winning the coin toss all week, and we lost it. That’s why it took us so long [to score]," Frank joked. 

  "AIl jokes aside, we want to get forward as quickly as possible and put crosses into the box. After they made it 2-2, we scored 32 seconds after the kick-off.

  "Offensively - wow! Unbelievable. We seemed to create a chance every time we went forward, and we were such a threat from set pieces.

  "Defensively, I’m mostly angry about the first goal. The second one, we lost the ball - it was quite good play from them. For their third goal we could have done better.

  "We gave less away compared to the West Ham game, but we still need to improve."