Everton welcomed Kevin Keegan's Toon Army to Merseyside needing a point to guarantee safe passage into next season's UEFA Cup competition. With Newcastle having nothing to play for, but having only lost once in their last eight games, David Moyes knew the Goodison Park crowd were in for a jittery afternoon.
Newcastle brought the game to the Toffees in the early exchanges, but Everton were far from over-awed and the game was shaping up to be a nice change from the usual drab end-of-season affair fans often endure.
The home side should have taken the lead on ten minutes when Leon Osman fed Yakubu, enjoying a fine game, who turned and jinked on the edge of Stephen Harper's area before shooting wide across the face of goal, with Manuel Fernandes just failing to direct the loose ball home as he slid in.
Everton were beginning to turn the screw by midway through the first half and both Jagielka and Fernandes spurned half chances. At the other end, Michael Owen was causing problems along with Andrew Carroll, without ever invoking real concern.
Everton were truly in the ascendancy though and it was no shock when Yakubu rose highest to bury a fantastic Fernandes free-kick to break the deadlock on 28 minutes after Damien Duff had bear-hugged Steven Pienaar off the ball.
Yakubu had the ball in the back of the net again minutes later, but Joleon Lescott was marginally offside when he headed on for the striker to guide his effort past Harper.
Everton continued to completely dominate the rest of the half with Newcastle looking exposed time and again as the home side went for a second.
Seconds after the restart, disaster struck for the Blues as Joseph Yobo brought down Charles N'Zogbia for Owen to level the scores with a cool penalty. It was terrible luck for Everton, who had been far the better side for the majority of the game.
Fernandes struck two free-kicks in quick succession which could have restored the Toffees' lead and Yobo headed over from a corner and Jagielka from a free-kick as Everton recovered well from the earlier setback.
The game started to turn slightly as the rain came down and Newcastle finally decided to start playing some football.
However, it was still Everton with the real chances. Victor Anichebe missed a golden chance to win it when he chased down a Pienaar ball and escaped his marker, but fired wide from 15 yards.
On 69 minutes Lescott cemented his hero reputation around Goodison as he read Steven Taylor's headed clearance from Fernandes' cross and slid the ball past Harper with his left peg.
After that, it was all over for Keegan's men and when Taylor brought down Leon Osman in the area after a smart run, Yakubu's penalty conversion sealed a coveted UEFA Cup spot.