It was far from pretty but it was job done for Newcastle United who move one step closer to Champions League

As the full-time whistle blew at St James' Park, confirming Newcastle United's 2-0 win over Chelsea, Ally McCoist declared Newcastle will be in the Champions League next season.

There's still work to be done, and it's far from a mathematical certainty, but today's win over Chelsea was a massive, massive step towards that goal.

Newcastle jump into third place, one point behind Arsenal, who play Liverpool later today. If the Reds turn up for that one and win, Newcastle can claim second place with a win over the Gunners next week. What a season.

Today was all about getting three points for the Magpies, and a goal right at the start of the match and one right at the end did that.

It took Sandro Tonali just two minutes to put Newcastle United ahead with a cheeky finish that was hit into the ground and looped over Robert Sanchez.

Just over half an hour later, Nicolas Jackson was sent off for a WWE-esque forearm smash on Sven Botman. A VAR check and on-field review overturned the referee's initial yellow card and ruled it as a straight red.

That left Chelsea without a striker with an hour left to play. The Magpies saw out the remainder of the half with no real issues, without really creating anything themselves.

You'd think that, being a goal and a man up, the second half would all go Newcastle's way, but not for the first time, Newcastle struggled to exploit the one-man advantage, and the tension inside St James' Park amped up as the game went on and Chelsea continued to dominate possession.

Thankfully, Captain Bruno Guimaraes was on hand to settle Geordie nerves rifling a 90th-minute shot goalwards, and with the aid of a deflection, looping the ball over Sanchez for Newcastle's second.

It was not a pretty game, and a few Newcastle players seemed to struggle with Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy in particular having an off day.

Dan Burn was a colossus at the back and was rightly given the Player of the Match by TNT Sports.

Also, if anyone can tell me how Moises Caicedo ended that game without a yellow card, answers on a postcard!