Newcastle United secured Champions League qualification, despite losing 1-0 to Everton.
Moyes & Co did their best to spoil the party and would have had Manchester United not beaten Aston Villa.
The Magpies dropped to sixth in the Premier League table when Carlos Alcaraz opened the scoring but jumped back into fifth after Villa went behind at Old Trafford. Amad Diallo opened the scoring before Christian Eriksen added a second from the penalty spot.
Newcastle far superior goal difference ensured they finished ahead of Villa, despite both accumulating 66 points.
David Moyes reacts to Everton’s win at Newcastle United
“I thought it was a great performance,” said Moyes. “The character the players showed throughout the game. We turned up not really needing anything today from the game. We couldn't really change our league position, you wouldn't have thought that with the way the players performed today.
“I thought they were magnificent. Maybe as good as we've been in any game in some ways. It says a lot about the players' attitude, their commitment. It would have been easy for them to be on the beach. They certainly weren't that today.
“I was a little bit worried about this week because the training was just a wee bit lower. But to be expected. We played our big game last week at Goodison. Sometimes it's quite difficult to remind people there's another game but I have to say their professionalism, the way they've done the job. I was really proud of the players today.
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“Newcastle are in great form, probably the worst place you'd want to come in the last game of the season was in St James' Park with them winning to qualify for the Champions League. Their form at Newcastle has been so good.
“By the way, congratulations to them because they've done a brilliant job here at Eddie. Winning a cup and also qualifying for the Champions League. He deserves a lot of credit.”
Eddie Howe reacts to Newcastle United’s defeat to Everton
Newcastle headed into the game knowing a win would guarantee Champions League qualification. Howe admits he was left disappointed by the performance but reflected on a “monumental season”.
Howe said: “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.
“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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