The most important point of the season for Newcastle United – It changes everything | OneFootball

This was the most important point of the 2024/25 Premier League season for Newcastle United.

I thought it at the time and I am sure of it now.

With one match of the season to go, I suppose I should slightly rephrase that.

This has been the most important point of the 2024/25 Premier League season for Newcastle United, so far.

I know that some of you will be shouting that every one of the 66 points has been important for Newcastle United, as they are all intrinsically reliant on the others.

However, some points are more important than others for sure, especially at the sharp end.

Aston Villa had ended a five match winning run (six if you include Wembley) in the Premier League, United though bouncing back with a regulation home win over relegated Ipswich Town.

Next up though was a match away at Brighton, who have become a bit of a bogey team for Newcastle United, plus they had already defeated Eddie Howe’s side twice this season. A poor record in general as well down on the south coast.

It was a match where it felt like the fates were against Newcastle United.

United easily the better team throughout but Brighton taking a first half lead when former Newcastle United player Yankuba Minteh scored, he did well but it was poor defending by the usually ultra reliable Sandro Tonali and then a cruel deflection off Dan Burn game Nick Pope no chance.

Newcastle though weren’t deterred and flowed forward time and time again but the closer they came to look like scoring, the fates made sure that wasn’t happening. Two penalties awarded by the referee but (correctly) cancelled by VAR, a host of other chances but the ball just wouldn’t go in.

To their vast credit though, the Newcastle United players never gave up. The moment at last came when on 89 minutes a clear handball in the box by a Brighton player from a Schar free-kick, saw VAR (finally!!!) point to the penalty spot and cool as you like, Alexander Isak tucked it away. It was United pressing and pressing for the winner in added time and Callum Wilson denied by yet another brilliant Verbruggen save.

After that match at Brighton, I think fair to say that it appeared the majority of Newcastle United fans were bemoaning this as two points dropped.

For me though, this was a huge point won and a point that was very very likely to be key as the season neared its close.

This is how the Premier League table looks with one round of games to play:

Obviously, I know that two other massive matches then followed, the win over Chelsea and defeat at Arsenal. Neither surprised me at all. I was very confident we would win against Chelsea, it is what we do against them at St James’ Park. Whilst at the Emirates I had a bad feeling that things finally wouldn’t go our way against Arsenal.

I look back at the final ten Premier League games of the season and I think they very much played out as I expected, it was Brighton though that was in many ways the one where anything could happen, the biggest variable.

Just look above at what a difference that point has made, as we go into the final round of matches.

if Newcastle United had lost at Brighton, it would have seen Eddie Howe’s team go into their last match in sixth place, meaning that if Villa, Chelsea and Man City all won their final games, it wouldn’t matter at all what NUFC did against Everton.

Instead, that 89th minute equaliser at Brighton means Newcastle United are masters of their own destiny, win against Everton and nothing anybody else can do to stop us finishing top five and qualifying for the Champions League.

I hope it doesn’t come to this but there is also a viable way that even if Newcastle draw against Everton, they could still finish top five. This would need the Forest v Chelsea match to end in a draw, or Villa not to win at Old Trafford.

In the scenario of say Newcastle and Chelsea both drawing their games on Sunday and Villa winning, then I think we would be very grateful for two other recent matches where the winning margin became so important.

If Newcastle had only won 1-0 against Chelsea and only 1-0 or 2-0 against Ipswich instead of 3-0, then it would have meant Chelsea above Newcastle on goal difference now AND at the end of the season, if both draw these final matches. Forest would be a point behind in seventh.