Everton were winning 2-0 thanks to Mikel Arteta's penalty and Marouane Fellaini's first goal for the club, before Steven Taylor headed one goal and created the equaliser for Damien Duff in two dramatic minutes each side of half-time at Goodison Park.

It helped boost Newcastle's confidence, and take the heat off stand-in boss Kinnear who had been slammed for his tirade of swearing aimed at the media during the week.

Kinnear managed to get through post-match interviews without swearing once and kept the lid on his temper this time as Newcastle ended a run of five successive defeats.

The Magpies manager may consider that Newcastle "are on the up" but Moyes - who insists he will sign his new contract this week - witnessed another stumbling performance from his side.

In the last fortnight they have been knocked out of the UEFA Cup and Carling Cup, lost the Merseyside derby and yesterday once more failed to win a first home match of the season.

Moyes said of Taylor's strike: "There's never a good time to concede a goal. But that was bad. We gave Newcastle a lifeline.

"We are a bit fragile at the moment, anxiety crept in. Even during the half-time period.

"Their dressing room clearly got a lift and ours was down because we had controlled and dominated the half, so to go in just 2-1 ahead was annoying.

"We kept working hard. I know some fans were booing at the end, but they were disappointed we did not win the game."

On the issue of his contract, Moyes added: "I hope the contract will now be signed sometime next week.

"We have not had the time to do it over the last few days, it will be done next week."