Rooney strikes as Everton upstage Newcastle

However, Newcastle boss Bobby Robson was fuming after the referee ignored a knee-high tackle by Everton’s Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen on Olivier Bernard before the ball even reached Rooney for his run.

“I thought it was an outrageous tackle, it’s almost a red card,” Robson told Sky Sports. “He already has a yellow card, so we know he has to go off. I just couldn’t understand Mr. (Neale) Barry not seeing it and giving it.

“He played on for quite some time — he must have known the player was injured and on the ground — and then a penalty was awarded against us.

“It was a crucial decision. It’s actually cost us the match…it was a very bad decision. I think Mr. Barry will not sleep tonight.”

Robson said he had not spoken to the referee after the game, adding: “I’d lose my rag (temper) with him and there’s no point doing that.”

Everton boss David Moyes also believed Neale should have stopped the move that led to his team’s winning goal and said he had tried to get his men to put the ball out of play.

“I did think it was a free kick in the middle of the park,” Moyes said. “The decision went our way. We indicated we’d like the ball to be kicked out so that the player could receive treatment.

“In the noise, you don’t always hear things and the players played on…the information didn’t get through.”

Defeat left third-placed Newcastle stuck on 61 points — six behind both Manchester United and Arsenal with six games left.

Robson said: “We just need to hover around Manchester United and Arsenal but they’ve now gone ahead of us.”

Everton moved up to fifth on 53 points, one ahead of Merseyside rivals Liverpool and four behind Chelsea in the race to the fourth-place finish which means a place in the Champions League qualifiers.

“What we’re going to aim to do is peg back Chelsea,” said Moyes, whose men are away to the West Londoners on April 21. “This result today has given us the opportunity to do so.”

Man-of-the-match Rooney made an explosive start, put clean through with only seconds on the clock. Shay Given smothered the teenager’s shot but a flag also went up for off-side.

But Given had no chance in the 18th minute when David Weir nodded on a cleverly-worked corner and Rooney met the ball with a powerful close-range header which flew in off the post.

Newcastle nearly snatched a stoppage time equaliser when defender Titus Bramble sent in a powerful close-range header, only for Wright to pull off a stunning reflex save.