The full back came on for skipper Jamaal Lascelles with the Magpies 2-0 down at the break, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison – who struck just a minute after Jordan Pickford kept out Matt Ritchie’s penalty – having put Marco Silva’s side into a commanding position.
However, United got back into it after Salomón Rondón combined with Ayoze Pérez, before Pérez himself netted a quick-fire brace late on to send St. James’ Park into raptures.
The Spaniard’s clinical second made sure of a fifth successive home Premier League victory for Rafa Benítez’s troops, and Dummett admitted that few would have expected the Magpies to produce such a comeback heading into the interval.
“It was quite unbelievable,” he told nufc.co.uk. “Being 2-0 down, I don’t think anyone expected us to go on and win 3-2. Coming out for the second half we knew that we couldn’t concede, because if you do and you go 3-0 down it’s basically game over. The manager said we needed to stay in the game – that if we got one goal, we had a chance again. We got one, we pushed on from there and obviously got another. We had a bit of momentum, we got the third – which was unbelievable – and we held out to win.
“The first goal gave us a lot of confidence. The fans started backing us even more, they dropped off a bit and they just tried to defend their 2-1 lead. They started wasting time a lot – even when it was 2-2, which suggested they were happy with a draw with the pressure we were putting on them. We had the momentum and we carried on going right until the end. All the time he’s been here, the manager’s said that from the start to the very end we have to keep on working hard as a team, and if we do that we’ve always got a good chance of winning. That’s what we did – the first half wasn’t great but we worked so hard as a team to create chances and thankfully we got the three points.
“It’s a confidence booster. Before the game, we’d won four in a row at home and now it’s five. At the start of the season we struggled with our home form and we weren’t winning games here, but I think the team’s showed massive character. We came from behind against Manchester City and we’ve done it again today. It’s a massive task to come from 2-0 down to win 3-2.”
Prior to the Toffees’ visit, Dummett had been restricted to just two substitute appearances since returning to fitness following a month-long injury lay-off, and the Welsh international is hopeful of forcing his way back into Benítez’s starting XI when the Magpies travel to AFC Bournemouth next Saturday.
“It’s one of those things you can’t really complain about,” he admitted. “The three centre backs in my position have been fantastic, so I know that every day I have to work as hard as I can to get back into the team. And obviously, when I get the chance, I try to do the best that I can and that’s what I did today. Hopefully it’s given the manager something to think about going forward. I think he’ll probably have a headache when he picks the team next Saturday afternoon so we’ll see what the outcome is then.”
