Newcastle United scored their 78th league goal of the season in Eddie Howe's 100th game as Head Coach, with the Magpies running out fully deserving 4-1 winners against Burnley.
Following a shaky opening 15 minutes in which Martin Dúbravka was the busier of the two goalkeepers, the away side found their footing and blew the naïve Clarets away with their superior firepower.
Callum Wilson opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a typical poacher's effort after good work from Tino Livramento and Jacob Murphy before Sean Longstaff fired home to make it 2-0 in the 35th minute from a fantastic Murphy cutback.
Anthony Gordon then found Bruno Guimarães on the edge of the box to make it 3-0 five minutes later, which meant the game was pretty much done as a contest by the interval.
Alexander Isak missed a first penalty in black and white but made amends almost immediately to make it 4-0 with a smart finish before a rare Matt Ritchie lapse gifted Burnley a late consolation through Dara O'Shea.
All-in-all this was one of the most complete away displays of the season from Newcastle, though the opposition were all too accommodating. Still, you can only beat what's put in front of you and we most certainly did that.
Here's how we scored the 16 Magpies on show, with one of the toughest calls for Player of the Match of the campaign!
The Slovakian made the first big save of the contest after just two minutes, though the chance came about by him having too deep a starting position. Otherwise, his handling was good but he surely could have done better with O'Shea's header for the Burnley consolation.
Tino did superbly for the opening goal to set the initial move away but should have put us 2-0 up when set up by Wilson in the 25th minute. In the second period, he went from strength to strength, making a huge chance for Longstaff and constantly raiding forward down the flank.
The Swede had put in a solid shift until getting caught under the ball for Burnley's consolation from a corner, giving O'Shea an easy run to head home. He won't have many easier games than this in the Premier League, but he deserves credit once again for a dependable display.
He made a key tackle early on when Burnley looked set to have a big chance on goal and was also instrumental in the third goal when winning the ball back high up on the left. This was another commanding display at centre-back from Burn, who's been fantastic lately.
Hall did superbly for the second goal, cutting out a through ball before releasing Wilson in the box, and was extremely composed in possession throughout. He got to grips with things defensively after a bit of a slow start, too, winning 6/8 duels and making four tackles.
The excellent Murph played his part in the opener with a low cross for Isak that the striker surprisingly missed and got a cracking assist for Longstaff to make it 2-0. He made a similar chance just before half-time that was missed, too, before setting up Isak nicely for the fourth.
He had a half-chance from a Gordon corner around the half-hour mark that he headed over quite tamely, though he finished brilliantly to make it 2-0 immediately after. He missed an almost identical chance soon before the break and seemed to tire badly in the second half.
Although Bruno was perhaps slightly fortunate not to concede a penalty in the early going, he finished with great composure for the third goal and put in another top display. The Brazilian won a game-leading six tackles and had more touches than anyone with 99.
Gordon's set-piece delivery was strong again and the Scouser looked a massive threat on the break. He set up Bruno for the third, adding another assist to his seasonal tally, and won a penalty shortly after half-time when skinning Brownhill that Isak unfortunately missed.
He was harshly booked for diving early on but scored almost immediately after, showing his poacher's instinct to prod home a rebound. He set up a massive chance for Livramento soon after, too, and had a big hand in the build-up to Longstaff's goal with strong forward play.
Isak probably should have opened the scoring when set up by Murphy, but his effort forced Muric into the save that gave Wilson a tap-in. It looked like it wasn't going to be his day when his penalty was saved, but he got himself on the scoresheet with a super finish straight after.
Barnes looked very sharp in his 25 minutes of action but suffered from the game being done by the time he was introduced. He still had time to make one of our best late chances and get into a couple of shooting positions himself when moved up front for the last few minutes.
Initially played on the right of midfield before swapping over to the left, Anderson seemed to be trying too hard here at times. His desire to be a part of the action is admirable but there are times where he could do with calming down and playing a more controlled game.
What a pleasure it is to see Big Joe back in the squad. He managed to get more touches of the ball than Isak and Wilson in this 25-minute cameo, showing his eagerness to be involved, and there were numerous trademark crunching tackles thrown in for good measure too.
Although Miggy buzzed around eagerly, he struggled to get involved in the game from his station on the left of the front two. He showed plenty of purpose and composure when he did get on the ball, though, completing all nine of his attempted passes.
Ritchie did a bit of a Dummett here, putting the ball needlessly out for a corner with his first action that the home side scored their consolation off. He worked incredibly hard to make amends but also missed a decent chance after being set up by Barnes.
Roberto De Zerbi brings his struggling Brighton & Hove Albion side to St James' Park for our final home game of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign next Saturday.
It's another non-televised 3 p.m. BST kick-off here in the UK and we should have absolutely nothing to fear from the Seagulls, who have been woeful since the turn of the year.
Let's hope we get about them in the same way as we did this time last year when our 4-1 win saw us all-but-guarantee fourth spot and our place in the Champions League.
Howay the lads!
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
13 | 18 | 34 |
2 |
Arsenal
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
4 |
Brighton
|
13 | 5 | 23 |
5 |
Manchester City
|
13 | 3 | 23 |
6 |
Nottingham Forest
|
13 | 3 | 22 |
7 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
13 | 14 | 20 |
8 |
Brentford
|
13 | 3 | 20 |
9 |
Manchester United
|
13 | 4 | 19 |
10 |
Fulham
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
11 |
Newcastle United
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
12 |
Aston Villa
|
13 | -3 | 19 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
13 | 1 | 18 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
13 | -7 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
13 | -11 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
13 | -11 | 10 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
13 | -7 | 9 |
18 |
Wolves
|
13 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Ipswich
|
13 | -11 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
13 | -15 | 5 |