Newcastle United ably despatch 10-man Ipswich Town at St James' Park confirming Tractor Boys relegation to Championship

Newcastle United picked up three massive points at St James' Park as expected, as the Magpies' 3-0 victory over Ipswich Town condemned the visitors to relegation.

Anything but an Ipswich Town win would have given them hope of beating the drop, but it just never looked likely as Tom Daley's Select XI sat behind the ball and threw themselves to the ground at the slightest contact.

It was one of those dives that saw Ben Johnson booked, perhaps harshly, but there could be no complaints about his foul six minutes later, which saw him pick up his second yellow and give Ipswich the most monumental of tasks.

Referee Michael Salisbury had an absolute nightmare all game, getting practically every big decision wrong, particularly in the first half, in which he disallowed a perfectly good Bruno Guimaraes goal and awarded Newcastle the softest of penalties after missing a blatant foul on Dan Burn moments earlier. As well as, of course, the decision to book Ben Johnson for a dive which led to his sending off.

Goals from Isak, Burn and Osula sealed the deal for Newcastle

Alexander Isak channelled his inner Darwin Nunez all game, spooning shots all over the place, but the Swede made no mistake from the spot, firing Newcastle into the lead four minutes into first-half stoppage time.

Newcastle came out for the second half looking to turn the screw, but at the same time, their infuriating need to walk the ball in for every goal started to make it look like 1-0 was how it was going to stay before Dan Burn bundled in a header at the back stick on 56 minutes.

Two nil up and cruising, Eddie Howe made several changes as the game went on with the key one being Will Osula getting a rare run out, replacing Harvey Barnes, and it wasn't long before the heed the ball forward heeded the ball into the net, leaping like a salmon in the area to nod home a Kieran Trippier cross to make it 3-0 on 80 minutes.

The race for the Champions League places is very tight

Newcastle started the game down in sixth place after Chelsea beat Everton earlier in the day, but finished the day back up in third place. That's how tight this Champions League race is.

For all of Newcastle's possession, crosses and shots, this should have read like a cricket score, and we're not sure whether to credit Ipswich for defending with their lives or whether we should be fuming at our lack of invention in the final third.

A special mention has to go to 34-year-old Kieran Trippier, who had a blinder of a game, having 158 touches and looking like he did in his prime as he provided two assists. What a player. I know I've criticised him a lot this season, but he's shown lately that you should never write him off.