Newcastle fans could not face their players after they threw it all away against the Toffees

The message from the 7,732 travelling Newcastle United supporters at the Hill Dickinson Stadium could not have been clearer at the end of this abysmal Carabao Cup effort on Merseyside.

The tie was as good as over at half-time as Newcastle capitulated with some shambolic defending against the Toffees. And while they should have had a penalty shout before the second goal, the lack of fight from United was disturbing.

Here, just days after a super win at Crystal Palace, Newcastle blew the chance to face League Two minnows Fleetwood for a place in the semi-finals. By the time Toon players made their way over to the away section the majority of fans had either made an early dart back to Tyneside or headed into Liverpool city centre for a night cap.

Joelinton and a few of his team-mates threw their shirts into the crowd for those who were left but this is becoming an all too regular occurence for Newcastle. Matthias Jaissle is facing fresh questions with his selection, and the most worrying sign for the German head coach will be when 18-year-old Sean Steur was ROARED on by Newcastle fans who are baffled at his slip down the pecking order.

Dan Burn's goal raised a cheer but by that time, the game was up and Everton had taken their foot off the gas.

The first genuine threat from either side came in the 11th minute when Harvey Barnes forced a save out of Jordan Pickford after Nico Gonzalez's probing pass but despite earning a corner it came to nothing and Everton cleared their lines. Four minutes later, Barnes drove the ball in from the left but Everton again stood firm despite both Joe Willock then Jacob Ramsey getting glimpses of goal.

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Barnes was the danger man again on 17 minutes as he poked it into Willock's path and the ex-Arsenal man forced another save from Pickford. And within seconds Pickford pushed away another shot from Gonzalez as Newcastle forced a corner.

Everton woke up a little and on 24 minutes, Hayden Hackney thought he was going to stroke the ball past Lukas Hornicek but the Czech stopper recovered well. And 10 minutes later, it was the home side who grabbed the lead to rock Newcastle on Merseyside.

Hackney slipped in England international James Garner who curled the ball past Hornicek before the Hill Dickinson erupted. Everton strengthened their grip on the tie after Harvey Barnes was upended by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Referee Farai Hallam waved away protests and played on, before Thierno Barry set up Hackney to fire home a second and double the lead. Newcastle's defence had gone AWOL and even after Jacob Ramsey had committed a foul, again Hallam allowed play to continue with the Toon defensive all at sea.

Worse still Ramsey switched off all together to allow Hackney to roam into the box and score an easy goal for the home side. Jaissle at least got tough at the break and hauled off Ramsey, Osula and Barnes with Joelinton, Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa coming on.

As the second half warmed up a tame header from Wissa at Pickford then a deflected shot from Dedic earned a corner. But the brief fight back didn't last long and Everton put the lid on the game after another diabolical defensive showing from Newcastle.

This time Dewsbury-Hall skipped down the left wing and took the Toon defence out with a low cross, it fell for an unmarked Barry who had time and space to pick his spot and easily beat Hornicek with 21 minutes left. Once again Newcastle stopped after failing to win a free-kick, with Joelinton the culprit, while Garner was allowed to run freely and pick out his team-mate.

It was the cue for some Newcastle fans to leave early while others watched on in stunned silence, this felt like Coventry and Leeds revisted, but surely this was even worse given the opportunity to reach another semi-final was firmly in United's grasp before the Merseyside capitulation.

As Wissa directed a shot that went closer to the corner flag than the target, resulting in ironic cheers from Everton fans, a distinct lack of quality could not have been more evident. As Everton took their foot off the gas, Burn headed home to reduce the arrears after Willock's cross and give the travelling fans something to cheer.

That sparked chaos in the box as Pickford wouldn't release the ball, and a huge melee in the net erupted as Everton tried to delay the game. Burn and Joelinton, along with Pickford and Tarkowski, were booked for their trouble.

Inevitably, it was too little too late, and the majority of Newcastle's huge travelling army had voted with their feet and left the ground early.

Referee: Farai Hallam (Rugby)

Attendance: 51,894