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Cape Town - Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez says it was always going to be tough to beat Everton at Goodison Park, given the gap in the two sides' transfer spending.
The Toffees spent £47m in January to bring in Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun, while Benitez was only able to add three loanees to his squad, in Kenedy, Islam Slimani, and Martin Dubravka.
The experienced Walcott was the standout player for Everton on Monday night, scoring the only goal as Sam Allardyce's side clinched a 1-0 victory over the Magpies.
"We didn't take our chances and that is the difference when you have Walcott or [Wayne] Rooney or players on these wages that can make a difference," Benitez said, according to Sky Sports.
"We did really well to be here to play against this team. To expect that we have to beat them easily is impossible.
"They have very good players and they can make the difference. We battled and we fought until the end so we had the chance to draw, but we lost against a good team and that's it.
"The difference is they have players with experience in the Premier League. I don't know how much they have spent this year, but it is very simple.
"To come here and expect we have to better than them because we were doing well is not easy. Normally if you go away against these kind of players and these kind of teams, it is not easy to get anything."
