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For quite a while the excellence of Everton’s Jordan Pickford and 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 European’s showpiece competition on goal difference but, as confirmation of the result from Old Trafford finally arrived and the home players broke into an almost obligatory bout of linking arms and bouncing on the spot they looked almost sheepish.
Given their often outstanding performances in the course of a superb season, Howe’s players fully deserve their fifth-place finish but this masterclass in how to win away from David Moyes and Everton very nearly dashed that long cherished dream.
Newcastle started so slowly and seemed so strangely flat that they appeared in need of an urgent injection of adrenaline. This listlessness allowed Everton to gain an increasing first half foothold and, while the initially underworked visiting goalkeeper Pickford was permitted to show off much superior footwork, Newcastle’s Nick Pope divided smartly to divert James Garner’s 25-yard shot.
When Pickford was finally called to arms, Tyneside’s favourite pantomime villain demonstrated precisely why he has 75 England caps by making a fine double save to deny first Sandro Tonali from distance and then Alexander Isak on the rebound. Pickford may be a former Sunderland keeper, not to mention a lifelong supporter of his old club, but a big part of Newcastle supporters’ antipathy towards him is because they know just how good he is.
Not to be outdone, Pope promptly performed wonders to tip Alcaraz’s header over the bar following his connection with Vitalii Mykolenko’s fine cross.
By now Howe and his assistant, Jason Tindall, were deep in earnest conversation. Part of their problem was that, although Isak passed a late fitness test to start here, there are suggestions the Sweden striker may need surgery on a long-standing groin problem. As has too often been the case in recent weeks, he did not look his fluent, mobile, best.
With Everton old boy Anthony Gordon still to come to life on the left wing, Howe had reason to be grateful that, yet again, Tonali was impressing in central midfield, intercepting a series of potential visiting counter attacks.
Maybe Gordon was carrying some sort of injury as Howe replaced him with Joe Willock at the interval in a switch also involving his team switching from a back three to a back four. This revamp involved Dan Burn reverting to left-back and the England defender, so assured at centre-half, suddenly looked a little less sure-footed.
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As the tension grew Howe and Tindall exchanged cross words with a distinctly unhappy looking Isak regarding the latter’s perceived negligence of defensive duties. Then came another defensive reshuffle with Kieran Trippier replacing Sven Botman, in a move that allowed Burn to return to his preferred role.
Maybe there was simply too much change because the excellent Alcaraz finally scored the goal he had been threatening to register for most of the afternoon. A fine header created by Mykolenko’s cross it left Moyes quietly jubilant and Howe in head in hands mode.
There was still time for a couple more examples of Pickford’s sheer brilliance before Newcastle’s party began.
