Moises Caicedo reacts after Chelsea's defeat to Newcastle United
This was big, big, BIG. The day Champions League football returned to St James Park in all its glorious finery.
Ta Tonali. Great bookend Bruno. Nasty Nicolas Jackson, but we don't care.
Home sweet home. Newcastle have now taken 46 points from their last 21 league games and only champions Liverpool have done as well. United stand third top on 66 points with two matches still to be contested but they finish back here against Everton and surely that is their passport to Europe's biggest competition. An upgrade on the Conference League that a Carabao Cup triumph guaranteed was surely confirmed in the blazing Sunday sun. It was the afternoon United broke the resistance and the hearts of their close rivals.
Howe about that Eddie? And ta to you too. Shorn of Kieran Trippier and Joe Willock along with Joelinton, United's manager brilliantly switched tactical formation just as he did equally brilliantly to outwit Arsenal in the semi-final of the league cup and the foundations were there for another win.
United were outstanding first-half swamping Chelsea, dominating play, and gaining the lead long before Jackson was deservedly sent off just after the half hour mark.
It took VAR's intervention for referee John Brooks to see Jackson leading with his elbow on Sven Botman. My only surprise was that Chelsea's centre-forward became the red card villain and not Moises Caicedo who had spent the opening half hour smashing Anthony Gordon to the floor.
When the Londoners shuffled their pack and their tactics second-half, United responded by switching their formation to a flat back four through substitutions and adopting a low press. The end product was that they won 2-0 just as they had against Chelsea at SJP in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on the way to their first domestic trophy in 70 years. Here the exact same scoreline helped set up another major prize.
Within two minutes United were ahead. Tonali won the ball which was recycled through Bruno and Jacob Murphy for our midfielder to desert his deep lying role and turn up on the back post to lash home.
Fast forward all the way to the 90th minute and we got what we had been praying for - a second to calm any jangling nerves. Bruno's shot may have taken a deflection on its way high into the far corner but did he care? Did we? Naw.
There were inevitably plenty of good performances. Dan Burn is a monster, Tino Livramento continues to amaze playing on his wrong side, Tonali is a true Italian stallion, and Nick Pope brought off a couple of crucial saves.
The way results have been going elsewhere with Aston Villa powering up the table and along with Chelsea threatening our Euro dreams a defeat would have been suicidal and even a draw bringing with it two points dropped would have greatly impacted with Arsenal away next on the horizon. However that pressure, that worry, has been released big time.
It truly has turned out to be a fab season for all Geordies.