Newcastle delivered a scintillating performance as they smashed Crystal Palace 5-0 at St James’ Park, scoring four times in a blistering first half to climb to third place in the Premier League table. The dominant win marked their fifth consecutive league victory, narrowing the gap to second-placed Arsenal to just four points.
With head coach Eddie Howe still sidelined as he recovers from pneumonia, assistant manager Jason Tindall and first-team coach Graeme Jones once again took charge—and continued their impressive stewardship. Under their guidance, Newcastle have now netted nine goals in just two matches.
The Magpies flew out of the blocks, immediately putting Palace under pressure. Alexander Isak squandered two early opportunities before Jacob Murphy broke the deadlock in stunning fashion. Cutting in from the right, Murphy unleashed a thunderous strike from a tight angle that soared past Dean Henderson at his near post in the 14th minute.
Newcastle remained firmly in control, though a moment of uncertainty threatened to turn the tide. Goalkeeper Nick Pope came charging off his line to punch a cross but missed the ball entirely and collided with Palace defender Chris Richards. After a VAR review, a penalty was awarded, but Pope redeemed himself by diving low to keep out Eberechi Eze’s tame effort.
That miss proved costly almost instantly. Less than two minutes later, Palace skipper Marc Guehi turned Harvey Barnes’ cross into his own net, compounding the visitors’ woes. Things went from bad to worse for Roy Hodgson’s side as Barnes added a third with a composed left-footed finish on the break in first-half stoppage time, before Fabian Schär rose highest to nod in a fourth from Murphy’s pinpoint delivery.
Isak, who had been lively all evening, continued to threaten after the break and was unfortunate not to have scored earlier, denied repeatedly by Henderson. However, the Swedish striker finally got his goal with a beautifully placed curling effort into the bottom corner, rounding off a flawless evening for Newcastle and their raucous home crowd.
