Newcastle United secured Champions League qualification with a big helping hand from Manchester United.
The Magpies lost 1-0 at home to Everton in their final game of the 2024-25 Premier League season and had dropped out of the top five for 11 minutes until Man United took the lead against Villa.
Amad Diallo opened the scoring before Christian Eriksen added a second from the penalty spot. It was a big let off for United, who headed into the afternoon a win would guarantee Champions League qualification.
Dan Burn reacts as Manchester United do Newcastle United a favour
“Yeah, it's huge. It doesn't feel right now,” Burn said after Newcastle secured a return to Europe’s top table. “I'm a bit disappointed to be honest [at the lost]. Yeah, listen, I think over 38 game, we deserved it. Put ourselves in a position to do that.
“Needed a little bit of luck. Cannot believe we’ve got a favour off Man Utd! I never thought that would happen, but yeah, very great.”
When asked if he knew the Man United score during the game, Howe said: “No, not at all, no. Especially when I kept seeing Fabi up front and shooting and stuff, I think someone might have been able to let them know.
“Hey, listen, it was one of those games. It was a good atmosphere. You could feel it was nervy. I think you could see we were probably a bit nervy on the pitch as well, but I'm just really glad I won.”
Eddie Howe reacts to Champions League qualification
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe added: “Definitely not how we wanted the day to go from our perspective in terms of how we played. We always knew it was going to be a difficult game.
“There was no underestimating of Everton at all. They're a solid team, men behind the ball, they've got a physical threat in their team. So all those things made them dangerous opponents today.
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“But I just felt our desire to win and to do well was probably too great, if that makes sense. I think we made some poor decisions on the ball, very unlike us. We were snatching at things, we were making the wrong decisions a lot of the time in the attacking half. And we haven't played that way for a long, long time.
“So, yeah, disappointed with our product today. But then you look over the season and you can't fault anybody. It's been a monumental season, a huge effort from the players and I'm very proud of them.”
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