Newcastle qualify for Champions League after Manchester United favour

For 11 excruciating minutes, a top-five finish looked to be slipping from the grasp of Eddie Howe and his players. Trailing to Carlos Alcaraz’s headed finish, and producing one of their most error-prone performances of the season, Newcastle were out of the Champions League places, with Aston Villa having taken their place.

Villa were already down to ten men at that stage though, following the dismissal of their goalkeeper, Emi Martinez, and were reeling from the controversial disallowing of what had looked like a perfectly good goal from Morgan Rogers. Could they hold out? Thankfully, for Newcastle, the answer was no. Former Sunderland loanee Amad Diallo broke the deadlock, before Christian Eriksen settled things from the penalty spot.

On Tyneside, the Magpies were unable to restore parity, beaten through a combination of their own sloppiness and an inspired performance from the home fans’ favourite pantomime villain, Jordan Pickford. Come the final whistle, though, the result didn’t matter. The big screen confirmed the final score at Old Trafford, the Champions League music was played over the PA system and St James’ celebrated.

It might not have been the perfect ending, but this has still been a truly remarkable season on Tyneside. The highlight was clearly a first major trophy in 70 years, but in terms of the journey Newcastle are on under their Saudi Arabian owners, securing a return to the Champions League football could be the achievement that has the greatest long-term impact. Come next season, and the first trip to Barcelona or Bayern Munich, no one will remember the fraught way in which a top-five finish was secured.

There were emotional scenes on the pitch after the final whistle, with players celebrating with their families. Yasir al-Rumayyan led the congratulations, while Callum Wilson was wiping away a tear as he applauded all four stands. Out of contract next month, it certainly felt as though the striker was saying a final goodbye.

All’s well that ends well. Although, from a Newcastle perspective, much that had happened in the rest of the afternoon had been difficult to watch.

While Everton went into the game with nothing to play for, Pickford’s presence nevertheless ensured the visitors had at least one player in their starting line-up who was hardly lacking for motivation.

Having been at the Stadium of Light for the second leg of Sunderland’s play-off semi-final, the Wearsider would no doubt have been cheering on his former side from Everton’s team hotel on Saturday. Booed throughout by the Newcastle fans, Pickford would have been desperate to complete a notable Wearside double by scuppering the Magpies’ Champions League hopes.

The Everton goalkeeper might well have been expecting an early bombardment, but instead, there was an edginess to Newcastle’s play throughout much of the first half that was almost certainly a reflection of the importance of the occasion.

Anthony Gordon fired a fifth-minute strike over the crossbar as he tried to make an early impact against his former club, but the half-hour mark had passed by the time Gordon was called upon to make his first save.

In fact, it turned out to be a double stop, with England’s number one parrying an initial strike from Sandro Tonali before also keeping out a follow-up effort from Alexander Isak, who was back in the side after completing his recovery from a groin injury.

Pickford was called into action again before the break, tipping Sven Botman’s downward header over the crossbar after the centre-half met Tonali’s corner, but Newcastle’s attacking lacked fluency, with passes repeatedly going astray and the home side’s 3-4-3 shape not really lending itself to the unlocking of a well-drilled Everton defence.

Indeed, if anything, it was the visitors posing the greater threat for much of the first half, and just as Pickford came to Everton’s rescue when called upon, Newcastle were indebted to two excellent saves from Nick Pope that ensured the scoresheet remained blank.

The Magpies goalkeeper parried a dangerous low strike from James Garner, before producing an even better save just before half-time as he tipped Carlos Alcaraz’s header over the top after the onrushing midfielder burst onto Vitaly Mykolenko’s cross.

The half-time scores elsewhere meant it was a case of ‘as you were’ in the Champions League battle at the interval, but Howe felt the need for a change as he attempted to spark his side into life for the second half.

Joe Willock came on for Gordon, who has endured a difficult second half of the season, but perhaps more notably, Howe switched formation, reverting to a flat back four with Tino Livramento at right-back and Dan Burn moving from centre-half into the left-back berth.

Still, though, Everton looked the more cohesive attacking side, and Pope made his third key save of the game when he turned Alcaraz’s low strike around the post after a swift Toffees counter-attack had sliced through Newcastle’s remodelled defence.

Ten minutes later, however, and even the Magpies goalkeeper was unable to prevent his side from falling behind.

Jacob Murphy conceded possession cheaply in his own half, enabling Everton to move the ball to their left-hand side. Mykolenko stood up a cross, and Alcaraz, who was the game’s stand-out midfielder, headed home from eight yards. St James’ Park was stunned, although you could hardly say that Everton’s lead was undeserved.

Isak fired a first-time volley over as Newcastle tried to rouse themselves, but the mood in the stands changed again with 14 minutes remaining as news filtered through that Amad had opened the scoring at Old Trafford. Suddenly, having dropped out of the top five when they conceded, the Magpies were back in the Champions League spots again.