Charly strikes to leave the Magpies sweating

Blues sign off with a win as Toon cling on for top-five finish

- By DAMIAN SPELLMAN

NEWCASTLE managed to cling on to their Champions League dream by the skin of their teeth despite Charly Alcaraz heading Everton to victory at St James' Park.

Alcaraz’s 65th-minute strike secured a 1-0 win on Tyneside and that, coupled with Chelsea’s win at Nottingham Forest and 10-man Aston Villa’s 2-0 defeat at Manchester United, left the Magpies in fifth place on goal difference.

On a day when victory would have been enough to end the tension, the Magpies were uncharacteristically nervy and imprecise, and the final whistle was greeted by joyous applause as a packed house of 52,221 celebrated not the result on the day, but the efforts which had secured a second trip to Europe's top table in three seasons and the Carabao Cup during an arduous campaign.