Newcastle just miss out on Champions League dream with defeat at Everton

In the end, it was all a bit of an anti-climax for Newcastle. Results elsewhere condemned their dream of playing in next season's Champions League to being no more than that. In any event, they never looked good enough to secure the minimum requirement of a win themselves.

From the moment a deflected shot from Everton's Steven Pienaar put them on the back foot after 16 minutes, United needed to break new ground by winning from a goal behind – incredibly, given the season they have had.

Nikica Jelavic, taking his chance at the second attempt after Tim Krul had defied his first with a superb save, doubled Everton's lead before the half-hour, and from that point David Moyes's side were in complete control. John Heitinga, unmarked, added a third with a header 20 minutes into the second half, Newcastle getting one back only because Tony Hibbert was generous enough to head past his own goalkeeper. Even a red card for the Everton substitute Tim Cahill, following an altercation with Yohan Cabaye after the final whistle, did not dampen Goodison's celebratory mood.

Newcastle were poor, as if the Herculean effort that had enabled them to stay in the top seven of the Premier League for the whole season had left them with nothing in the tank. By equal measure, though, Everton were excellent, full of running and brimming with ambition. If only they could get used to the concept of starting their season in August, rather than January, they might be Champions League contenders themselves. It is hard to believe they were a point above the bottom three in November.

They have finished on a sequence of nine matches unbeaten, a run with huge significance in the title race, containing as it did that 4-4 draw at Old Trafford, and one that confirmed again the fact that, with funds at his disposal, Moyes could definitely turn his year-on-year claim to be the manager of the season into the sort of tangible rewards that properly reflect his ability.

Finally, given modest buying power in January after two years of austerity, Moyes bought the Croatian striker Jelavic for £5.5m from Rangers and took Pienaar back on loan from Tottenham. He introduced both on the back of a morale-boosting win over Manchester City and Everton's momentum began to build. Jelavic scored 10 goals, eight in the Premier League and, for only the second time, they have finished above Liverpool in the Premier League.

Not that Moyes sees that as anything to celebrate. A little downbeat afterwards, clearly frustrated that it took so long for his side to find consistent form, he insisted that where Everton are in relation to their city rivals is of only minor concern.

"I just wanted to finish as high in the league as we could," he said. "It doesn't bother me who we finish above. If it was us getting into Europe, it would be something to shout about.

"But it was a brilliant effort to finish as we have considering how far we have had to come. I felt today that we looked like the side that was pushing for fourth place. They were the better side when we played them at their place but we reversed that today."

Alan Pardew, beyond argument, is the manager of this season, regardless of it finishing on a low point. Shrewd spending on the likes of Hatem Ben Arfa, Cheick Tioté, Cabaye and the prolific Papiss Cissé has transformed Newcastle and raised expectations to such levels that the former West Ham manager knows already he faces a difficult task to match this season's progress in 2012-13.

"Certainly we face a difficult season next year," he said. "We have the African Cup of Nations, the Olympics and Europa League. We will have to work out a game-plan where we cover all that, as well as improving our defensive play and finding ways to score more goals, so that we can get the 21 wins that would give us Champions League football.

"I congratulate Arsenal and Tottenham because they deserve to finish above us. But we have made a huge leap to be in that group of teams."

Match facts

Everton: HOWARD, HIBBERT, HEITINGA, JAGIELKA, BAINES, OSMAN, GIBSON, NEVILLE, FELLAINI, PIENAAR, JELAVIC

Newcastle: KRUL, SANTON, COLOCCINI, WILLIAMSON, PERCH, GUTIERREZ, CABAYE, TIOTE, BEN ARFA, CISSE, BA

Scorers. Everton: Pienaar 16, Jelavic 27, Heitinga 65. Newcastle: Hibbert og 73

Substitutes: Everton Distin (Heitinga, 70), Cahill (Neville, 74), Stracqualursi (Jelavic, 83). Newcastle R Taylor (Santon, h-t), Marveaux (Perchm h-t), Shola Ameobi (Tiote, 81). Booked: Everton Baines , Heitinga. Newcastle Tiote .

Man of the match Pienaar. Match rating 6/10.

Possession: Everton 50% Newcastle 50%.

Attempts on target: Everton 11 Newcastle 5.

Referee A Marriner (W Midlands). Attendance 39,517.