Newcastle 4-0 Crystal Palace — Match Report: Routine win for high-scoring Magpies

This was as comfortable as it gets for Newcastle. A routine win at St James’ Park to continue their rise up the Premier League table.

With Newcastle in the football wilderness for 14 years, supporters had become accustomed to some pretty turgid styles of football in that time.

To see the majority of the same team passing the ball around the pitch with ease is still somewhat of a shock to the system.

This was a Newcastle side that was just clicking, they had their tails up from the first minute to the last.

The every enthused, Jacob Murphy was the star of the show this time and it was the winger who opened the scoring. Newcastle took the lead four minutes in after Murphy lobbed Sam Johnstone from an angle. The goal had initially been called offside but a VAR check showed Kieran Trippier had timed his run before setting up the opener.

Newcastle caused havoc down the right-hand side. Tripper, Murphy, and Sean Longstaff all combined expertly with each other. An unmarked Gordon should have doubled Newcastle’s lead when Murphy found him at the back post with a cross after half an hour but his effort hit a post.

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, did not even manage a shot on target before the break.

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

As the game ticked towards halftime, Newcastle finally made their pressure count with two quick-fire goals before the break.

First, it was Gordon who made up for his earlier miss with a cool finish from a sumptuous cross from Murphy. Three minutes later Longstaff capitalised on a slip from Guehi to fire Newcastle into a 3-0 lead in stoppage-time of half-time.

As the space opened up for Newcastle they grabbed their fourth on the counter. After a flowing move, which included a fabulous assist from Murphy, Wilson scored his fifth goal of the season just before he was taken off.

Sandro Tonali was given a rousing reception when he replaced the impressive Bruno Guimaraes. The Italian is facing a twelve-month ban after an investigation into illegal betting. Howe called for support for the player, and that’s exactly what he got.

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

It was a bit of a training ground exercise in the second half, with Newcastle completely dominating the ball.

Their thoughts now turn to Borussia Dortmund at St James’ Park. A win on Wednesday night would put the Magpies well on their way to getting out of the group of death, and continue their Champions League adventure.

Newcastle then travel to Wolves on Saturday evening. After a wobbly start, Newcastle are really starting to tick now. The timely return of Joe Willock will help their push before yet another international break in four weeks' time.