He could have been basking in the aftermath of heading Everton into a deserved lead. But with his teammates fighting against an increasingly-desperate Newcastle United, he was back defending his own box.
In the first half, Carlos Alcaraz was the first Royal Blue shirt to get out to Alexander Isak and put his body on the line to block the striker’s effort from a back post corner. Nearly an hour later, he was throwing his torso in the way of an effort by Harvey Barnes to protect the lead he had just earned.
Between those blocks he forced Nick Pope into two impressive saves, forced Fabian Schar into a cynical foul on one of his surges from deep and then played five minutes of the second half clutching his ribs as he chased black and white shirts after being clattered on the halfway line.
In a game that, in essence, meant little to Everton, Alcaraz played as though his career was on the line. With his future unresolved, publicly at least, the 22-year-old appeared to be fighting for the place he wants in this club’s future.
Newcastle’s success this season has been built around the midfield partnership of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton. The latter was absent on this final day but the others were in the shadow of the loanee from Flamengo who has captured the imagination of the Everton supporters.
Whether his move will be made permanent is now a question on the lips of all associated with the Blues. This was an impressive 75 minutes in the north east, his glancing header from a Vitalii Mykolenko cross just the cherry on top of a man of the match display.
After the match, David Moyes kept his cards close to his chest. “You’ll need to wait and see like everybody else,” the Blues boss told the ECHO when asked about the player’s future.
If this was the game on which his future was to be decided, he could not have done more.
Once again since Moyes’ return, Everton secured a valuable if unexpected away win. Add Newcastle to Brighton and Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Fulham to the long-list of clubs slain on their own territory amid the kind of season Everton yearn for.
When Moyes reflects on the impact of the Argentine, available for around £12m, it should not be lost that Alcaraz added a touch of class in so many of those dogged away wins – he was the difference at Palace, Fulham and now Newcastle.
Moyes does not want to be playing to spoil other clubs’ parties, he wants it to be his side that is fighting for silverware and European qualification when May comes around. But he relished the way his side, 13th place secured and on the comedown from the emotional goodbye to Goodison Park, took on a Newcastle team with a trophy in the cabinet and Champions League football on the line.
At the end, with results elsewhere working for the hosts, both sides left St James’ Park happy. Yet on the final whistle it was Jordan Pickford’s chant that dominated the airwaves even in the arena that is more hostile than any to the Sunderland-born England number one.
Pickford was once again superb, producing a series of great stops – two from Dan Burn amid a series of first half corners as Eddie Howe’s side looked to overwhelm the Blues. He also stretched to push clear a swerving Tonali effort then recovered to stick out a leg and stop Isak from poking the rebound in at the near post.
