New Mil notes

In order to sneak into second place and prolong their top-tier European adventure, Eddie Howe's side had to overcome the Italian giants and pray for Borussia Dortmund to avoid defeat against Paris Saint-Germain, who began the final matchday two points better off.

While Milan received a major boost with Rafael Leao's return to fitness, Newcastle boss Howe was finally able to make an alteration to his overworked starting XI, giving Callum Wilson the nod to lead the line ahead of Alexander Isak.

The Magpies' fatigue was evident against Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, but Howe's men took the game to Milan as soon as the first whistle blew inside the ear-piercing St James' Park cauldron.

In an opening period inundated with fouls and stoppages, Kieran Trippier fizzed a free kick just over the crossbar with six minutes on the board, before Fikayo Tomori produced an outrageous tackle to deny Miguel Almiron a one-yard tap-in in the 20th minute.

A rare foray forward from the Rossoneri in the 24th minute ended with the fit-again Leao curling a promising chance wide of Martin Dubravka's goal, but Newcastle continued to bombard their visitors' backline and were rewarded in the 33rd minute.

The lively Anthony Gordon drove forward in a pocket of space before laying off 17-year-old Lewis Miley, who in turn teed up Joelinton just inside the box, and the Brazilian took one touch before unleashing an unstoppable effort into the top corner.

As news filtered through that Borussia Dortmund had taken the lead against PSG, cheers erupted inside St James' Park while Callum Wilson sent a tame shot into Maignan's arms in the 51st minute, although the hosts' fortunes soon took a turn for the worse.

Only a few minutes after PSG equalised against Dortmund, Leao beat the offside trap and delivered a sublime cross into the box, where Tomori mishit his volley before Olivier Giroud smartly teed up Pulisic to slot home from close range.

Needing to up the ante, Newcastle forced Maignan into a spectacular save in the 69th minute, as the Frenchman tipped a Bruno Guimaraes curler from inside the D onto the crossbar, but Howe's side were almost caught cold in the 79th.

A poor touch from Tino Livramento allowed Luka Jovic to set Leao on his way, and the Portugal international attempted to beat Dubravka at his near post, but his low strike cannoned off the frame of the goal to the delight - and relief - of the St James' Park faithful.

However, Jovic was one of three substitutes to combine for a Rossoneri sucker punch in the 84th minute, as the Serbian and Noah Okafor burst through a disjointed Newcastle outfit on the counter-attack, and the latter set up Chukwueze to curl a sublime finish across Dubravka's futile dive.