· 25 May 2025, 18:44
**Have we ever mentioned just how much we love Manchester United? What a club they are, mind. Always loved them.**
It was thanks to Manchester United, and a former Sunderland player in Amad Diallo, that Newcastle United qualified for the Champions League next season, because the Magpies sure as hell can't take any credit for today.
Obviously, the season was more than just today's match, and on balance, of course, we deserve to be in next season's Champions League, but it honestly looked like we didn't even want it today.
Playing against an Everton side who had literally nothing to play for - they couldn't move from 13th position, Newcastle should have been after them from the first whistle, but there was very little urgency today, even after going a goal behind.
Bad day at the office but a good day in the end
Thank you, Aston Villa, for being even more Newcastle than Newcastle!
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That being said, Jordan Pickford played a huge part in Everton's 1-0 win, making some fantastic saves when Newcastle did threaten.
A 65th-minute Carlos Alcaraz goal was all that was required to settle this fixture, making it a very nervy and tense afternoon inside St James' Park.
With Chelsea winning, we were relying on Aston Villa having an off day against Manchester United, and thanks to an Emi Martinez red card, an Amad Diallo goal and a Christian Eriksen penalty, Villa absolutely fluffed it on the final day.
I'm not going to go into detail about the match today as it will dull the buzz of getting the Champions League. I'll leave that to Rich when he does his player ratings.
It has been a phenomenal season no matter how you look at it
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Considering just a week ago we were eying a second-place finish, the fact we finished the season in 5th place is a little bit frustrating, but as we've been saying all week, we didn't care how we did it, as long as we qualified for the Champions League.
As bitter as we are about the result and the performance today, we have to be proud of this team for an absolutely remarkable season, which has not only seen us qualify for Europe's top competition but also lift a domestic trophy for the first time in 70 years.
So we have to say a massive thank you to Eddie Howe and his staff, and of course, every player who played their part in another fantastic season.
That's it for the Premier League for another season ... is anyone else bored already?