Newcastle United are on the verge of making their Champions League dream a reality thanks to a pulsating 4-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at St James' Park in the Premier League.
Eddie Howe's charges exploded out of the blocks and took a deserved two-goal lead through Deniz Undav's own goal and a Dan Burn header, but the former pulled one back for the Seagulls early in the second half to ostensibly set up a nail-biting finish.
However, Brighton's toothless attack could not capitalise on plentiful periods of possession, and two late strikes from Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes sparked delirium for the Tyneside faithful.
Despite the Emirates embarrassment that his side inflicted upon Arsenal at the weekend, Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi shuffled the pack considerably, and it showed.
The Seagulls' penchant for playing out from the back worked wonders in North London, but the relentless Newcastle press forced De Zerbi's men into numerous passing errors in dangerous areas, as the Magpies took the game by the scruff of the neck early on.
Moises Caicedo was deployed as a makeshift right-back again, but the Ecuadorian was almost fatally caught out in the eighth minute. Space was exposed for Alexander Isak to charge into the box on the right-hand side, and the Swede's cutback bounced off Jason Steele and Caicedo before Lewis Dunk hacked the ball away off the line.
The Magpies continued to carve Brighton's backline open at will and had two sights of goal within two minutes of Dunk's crucial intervention, as Steele stopped a long-range Fabian Schar free kick before Joe Willock poked just wide of the Seagulls shot stopper's near post.
Brighton could and should have been punished by Joelinton in the 22nd minute after Jan Paul van Hecke gave the ball away in a dangerous area, but Dunk saved the visitors' bacon with a last-ditch block to deny the Brazilian. However, from the resulting corner, Kieran Trippier's delivery was met at the near post by Undav, who inadvertently flicked the ball into his own net to gift the hosts a merited lead.
The Seagulls remained committed to De Zerbi's build-up tactics, in spite of incessant pressure from those in black and white, who were denied a penalty in the 27th minute when Wilson went down softly over Dunk's trailing leg.
Newcastle's efforts to double their advantage before the break would seemingly prove fruitless, as meaty challenges flew in left, right and centre, but one such tackle would offer Trippier another opportunity to trouble the Brighton backline with his dead-ball specialities.
Following a slight delay amid a few scuffles inside the area, Trippier sent in an outswinging free kick into the sea of bodies, where the towering Burn peeled away from Undav and headed back across goal - the ex-Brighton man did not hold back his celebrations against his old club either.
Frustration was rife among Brighton fans when De Zerbi held off on making any changes at the break, but the visitors found it much easier to play around the Newcastle press early in the second half and cut the deficit to one in the 51st minute, thanks in no small part to Howe's disjointed defence.
Going from zero to hero, Undav latched onto a sumptuous slide-rule pass by Billy Gilmour, burst forward and slotted home through the legs of Pope, and the goal stood after a brief VAR check for offside. The German's strike came only a couple of minutes after Steele had brilliantly denied Almiron from close range to prevent Newcastle increasing their advantage to three, as De Zerbi's men clawed their way back into the game out of nothing.
Brighton soon called upon their cavalry from the bench, as did Newcastle, but the Magpies' alteration was an enforced one as Willock went down clutching his hamstring in concerning fashion, and the ex-Arsenal man was helped off the field to be replaced by Elliott Anderson.
The Seagulls were inevitably dictating the play, albeit without firing any more shots of note towards Pope, and they were punished in the 88th minute, as Van Hecke tried to play Wilson offside on the halfway line but failed, and the Englishman stormed up the field to side-foot home and kill the game off.
Just two minutes later, Wilson turned provider for Guimaraes to crash home a fourth during a frenetic finale, cutting back for the Brazilian to pick out an empty net.
The Magpies now hold a four-point advantage over Liverpool in third place with just two games left to play, while Brighton remain sixth, seven points adrift of the Reds with a game in hand.
Newcastle's penultimate game of the season sees relegation-threatened Leicester City visit St James' Park on Monday, while the Seagulls host already-relegated Southampton on Sunday. body check tags ::
