For quite a while the defiant brilliance of Everton’s Jordan Pickford and the attacking excellence of Carlos Alcaraz threatened to derail Newcastle’s Champions League ambitions.
Ultimately, Aston Villa’s defeat at Manchester United enabled Eddie Howe’s team to stumble into Europe’s showpiece competition on goal difference but this reminder of their fallibility served as a warning that the St James’ Park squad could do with some significant reinforcement.
Tellingly, as confirmation of the result from Old Trafford finally arrived and Newcastle’s players broke into an almost obligatory bout of linking arms and bouncing on the spot, initially they looked almost sheepish.
By the time the chairman, Yasir al-Rumayyan, entered the pitch to offer congratulations the mood had picked up a bit and rightly so. Given their often outstanding performances in the course of a Carabao Cup-winning season, the players fully deserve their fifth-place finish.
It would have felt rough justice had this masterclass in how to win away from David Moyes’s gloriously obdurate Everton dashed that long-cherished dream but, as Alcaraz headed a fine 65th-minute winner, Howe looked as troubled as at any time this season.
Newcastle’s manager diagnosed a bad case of nerves. “It was definitely not the way we wanted the day to go,” he said. “You can’t underestimate Everton, they’re very solid but I sensed our desire to win was almost too great.
“ It wasn’t like us, we haven’t played like that for a long time. I had to change things tactically three times and it was a bit weird to be celebrating at the end, but hopefully during the course of the evening my mood will improve. Over the season, we’ve deserved it. I’m very proud of the players.”
Moyes was unstinting in his congratulations, emphasising just how well Howe has done, before turning slightly mischievous. “Jordan enjoyed his clean sheet,” he said, referencing the England goalkeeper’s enduring devotion to his former employer and Newcastle’s local rivals, newly promoted Sunderland. “But it was a great team performance. It would have been easy for the players to be on the beach; instead we were magnificent.”
Everton were one point above the relegation zone when Moyes succeeded Sean Dyche in January but here they sealed 13th place with a degree of comfort and considerable control.
Newcastle started slowly and seemed so strangely flat that they appeared in need of an urgent injection of adrenaline. This listlessness allowed the visitors to gain an increasing first-half foothold and, while the initially underworked Pickford was permitted to show off his much superior footwork, Nick Pope dived smartly to divert James Garner’s 25-yard shot.
When Pickford was finally called to arms, Tyneside’s favourite pantomime villain demonstrated why he has 75 England caps by making a fine double save to deny Sandro Tonali from distance then Alexander Isak on the rebound. Forget the ties that bind Pickford to Sunderland, a big part of Newcastle supporters’ antipathy towards him is because they know how good he is.
Not to be outdone, Pope promptly performed wonders to tip Alcaraz’s header over the bar after the Argentinian’s connection with Vitalii Mykolenko’s fine cross.
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By now Howe and his assistant, Jason Tindall, were deep in earnest conversation. Part of their problem was that Isak, although he passed a late fitness test to start, was far from his fluent best. A longstanding groin problem has clearly troubled him in recent weeks; summer surgery possibly beckons.
With the Everton old boy Anthony Gordon struggling on the left wing before his replacement by Joe Willock at half-time, Howe had reason to be grateful that, yet again, Tonali was impressing in central midfield, intercepting a series of potential visiting counterattacks.
Howe used the interval to implement a switch from a back three to a four. This revamp involved Dan Burn going to left-back and the England defender, so assured at centre-half, suddenly looked less sure-footed.
As the tension grew Howe and Tindall exchanged cross words with a distinctly unhappy-looking Isak regarding the Swede’s perceived negligence of defensive duties. Then came a further reshuffle with Kieran Trippier replacing Sven Botman, in a move that allowed Burn to return to his preferred position.
Maybe there was simply too much change because Alcaraz finally scored the goal he had long been threatening. A fine header created by Mykolenko’s cross, it left Howe with head in hands.
There was still time for a couple more examples of Pickford’s craft, including a top-drawer tip-over from Bruno Guimarães, before news of Villa’s defeat dictated the party could begin. “The achievement’s huge,” said Howe, after leading his team into the Champions League for a second time in three years. “It’s a huge moment for this club.”
