Newcastle turned on the style in the absence of head coach Eddie Howe to rout Crystal Palace and ease themselves into third place in the Premier League table.
The Magpies swept the Eagles aside in a game which had promised to be much more taxing as efforts from Jacob Murphy, Harvey Barnes, Fabian Schar and Alexander Isak either side of Marc Guehi’s own goal and Nick Pope’s penalty save from Eberechi Eze provided the perfect tonic for Howe as he continues his recovery from pneumonia.
A 5-0 victory at St James’ Park left Newcastle four points adrift of second-placed Arsenal and five clear of Chelsea in sixth in the race for Champions League football ahead of Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa.
Fielding the same line-up for the sixth successive game, they picked up where they had left off in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Manchester United with keeper Dean Henderson having to make a fine save after Bruno Guimaraes had picked out Murphy’s seventh-minute run and the wideman had pulled the ball back for Isak.
The Sweden international went close with a header from another Murphy cross two minutes later after Kieran Trippier had laid off the impressive Sandro Tonali’s stunning aerial pass, and although Palace looked dangerous on the counter, they were seeing too little of the ball to make a real impression.
Newcastle finally made the pressure tell with 14 minutes gone when Trippier fed Murphy once again and he blasted a rising shot past Henderson at his near post.
Will Hughes curled a 17th-minute attempt high and wide as the FA Cup semi-finalists looked for a response and Palace gradually edged their way into the game to bring Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta into play, although without genuine menace.
They were handed a route back into the game when referee Darren England, after being advised to review Pope’s challenge on Chris Richards as they challenged for Eze’s free-kick, pointed to the spot, but the England midfielder’s weak 36th-minute effort from 12 yards was saved easily by the keeper.
To rub salt into the wound, the Magpies went straight down the other end and Tino Livramento played Barnes into space and his cross was turned past Henderson by the unfortunate Guehi.
The home side increased their lead in first-half stoppage time when Tonali’s superb reverse pass allowed Barnes to race away and surge past defender Maxence Lacroix before firing past Henderson, and it was 4-0 before the whistle sounded, Schar glancing home from Murphy’s cross after Trippier’s short free-kick.
Isak might have scored a fifth after Dan Burn had flicked on a 52nd-minute Trippier free-kick, but steered his attempt straight at Henderson, but he did add his name to the scoresheet six minutes later when, after Joelinton had robbed Lacroix, he curled a right-foot shot past the helpless keeper.
Howe’s assistant Jason Tindall was able to make a raft of changes to save key players ahead of the trip to Villa Park, in the process removing the risk of Joelinton collecting a 10th booking of the season, as the Magpies eased across the finish line.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke described his team’s 1-0 victory at Gary Rowett’s Oxford as “the best type of win”.Manor Solomon’s 33rd-minute goal from a superb attacking move was enough to take Leeds back to the top of the Championship with three games to go.Farke said: “It was a massive win for us at this stage of the season against a team fighting against relegation...
Manor Solomon’s first-half goal fired Leeds back to the top of the Sky Bet Championship with a 1-0 win at Oxford.The Israel international arrived at the far post in the 33rd minute to smash Jayden Bogle’s right-wing cross high into the net from five yards at the end of a fast attacking move.It meant Daniel Farke’s men returned to the summit after Burnley’s 2-1 comeback vict...
Stephen Kelly struck two first-half goals as second-placed Livingston swept aside fellow Scottish Championship high-fliers Ayr 5-0.Kelly grabbed an early opener when he slotted home from the edge of the penalty area after six minutes and Robbie Muirhead made it two from the penalty spot after a foul on Cristian Montano.Ayr capitulated again moments before the interval, Kelly latching on to a long ...
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder said it had been an emotionally draining week after his side beat Cardiff 2-0 at Bramall Lane to end a run of three straight defeats.Goals from Gustavo Hamer and Ben Brereton Diaz kept the Blades in the hunt for automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship, while the Bluebirds remain in deep relegation trouble.Wilder said: “It was a nervy start for us ...
Alan Sheehan’s audition for the vacant managerial job at Swansea received further approval as he steered his side to a fourth successive victory with a 1-0 win over Hull.A controversial second-half penalty from Slovenianstriker Zan Vipotnik sealed the deal for the home side as they also notched a fourth successive clean sheet – the first time since 2008 they have won four in a row with...
Burnley boss Scott Parker praised his side’s defiance and cool heads as they moved to within one victory of an immediate return to the Premier League with a raucous 2-1 win over nine-man Watford at Vicarage Road.Within an extraordinary 11 minutes midway through the second half, Josh Brownhill scored what proved to be the winning goal before Watford pair Moussa Sissoko and Edo Kayembe were bo...
Sheffield United kept up the pressure on Burnley and Leeds as they beat Cardiff 2-0 at Bramall Lane on Good Friday.Goals from Gustavo Hamer and Ben Brereton Diaz kept the Blades in the hunt for automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship, while the Bluebirds remain in deep relegation trouble.The visitors had their first sight of goal when captain Callum O’Dowda’s cross was met by...
Barnet’s wobble in pursuit of the National League title continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Eastleigh.After nine victories in a row up to the end of March, Dean Brennan’s side are now winless in their last three games and had to come from behind to take a point from the visitors.Eastleigh took a 36th-minute lead through Paul McCallum after a poor back pass left the Bee...
Walsall boss Mat Sadler insists his stuttering Saddlers will not let heads drop despite slipping out of League Two’s top three for the first time in five months after a 2-2 draw with Harrogate.Liam Gordon’s 88th-minute equaliser rescued Walsall a point but they have gone 11 games without a win to drop from first to fourth.Just three points separate the top four, though, and Sadler rema...
Valerien Ismael described Blackburn’s 4-1 hammering of Millwall as the best his side has played since his arrival as head coach.Rovers maintained their slim play-off hopes by putting their in-form visitors to the sword.Dominic Hyam’s 42nd-minute header put Rovers ahead – the first of three goals in five minutes – as Mihailo Ivanovic equalised before Sondre Tronstad register...
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