Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart has said Lukas Hornicek had no choice but to move on after his error handed Everton the lead in Newcastle United's Premier League defeat at St James' Park.
Error Decides the Game
The Czech shot-stopper saw Tyrique George's effort squirm under his body, allowing Thierno Barry the simplest of tap-ins in the moment that ultimately decided the game. While United's defending from the earlier free-kick was shocking, Hornicek should have held on to the first effort, but could only watch as Barry turned the ball home.
The 24-year-old has been solid since arriving from Braga in the summer to claim the first-choice keeper shirt, but has now suffered two embarrassing mistakes, following the penalty he conceded at Coventry which came after another spill.
Hart's Sympathy for the Keeper
Hart has sympathy for the Magpies star, but added he did well not to try to atone for his error and compound the situation.
"You really have to park it," Hart told Sky Vegas' Overlap Daily of Hornicek's mistake. "But there's that extra feeling - and you almost battle with yourself - of a through ball that you would never usually come for.
"You have to have this voice in your head saying, you can't change this result, right? Even though you want to as a goalkeeper, you can't get the ball, produce some magic, score a goal. That's not your job, right?
"You've got to say that you only get involved when you need to get involved. He made some good saves and he kept it at 1-0, but it's just not a nice feeling, especially when you know technically it's maybe something where you just took your eye off it slightly.
"It's not a nice place to be, especially when it decides the game like it did last night. He'll be fine . . . you sign up for it."
Pressure at St James' Park
While Newcastle turned up the pressure on Everton late in the game, the Toffees never really looked like allowing their lead to disappear, with Jacob Ramsey picking up two yellow cards as frustrations boiled over.
Hart, who played 75 times for England in an illustrious career, feels United's stars could be feeling the pressure of playing in front of their home fans when things aren't going well.
"Everton went into that mode of buying fouls, which you've got to do, 1-0 away from home," he added. "They need the result and they did it so well.
"You could see big Dan Burn; he was ready to wring someone's neck. Everyone was, because you care so much, it's so hard to lose, especially at home, especially in front of that support.
"And I think these Newcastle players that have been brought in are brilliant footballers, and I'm sure of the football they produce on the training ground, but it goes from being that stadium that you want to play in to that stadium that you really need a result in. And you could feel that. I think Jacob Ramsey was the victim of that somewhat."
