The Good, The Bad, and The Average #41: NUFC player ratings vs. Crystal Palace (h) [PL29]

Newcastle United wiped the floor with Crystal Palace at St James' Park on Wednesday evening, smashing the Eagles 5-0 despite an awful penalty decision being given against Nick Pope.

The big goalkeeper had to spare his own blushes with a brilliant save from Eberechi Eze's spot-kick, having been penalised for a coming together with Chris Richards from a rare Palace foray into our box.

The Magpies had already dominated the contest to that point and were leading 1-0 thanks to Jacob Murphy's wonder-strike, but the injustice of the decision seemed to spur us on to even greater heights.

What followed was a 15-minute salvo, with a(nother) Marc Guehi own goal, a brilliant effort from Harvey Barnes, and a cool header from Fabian Schär launching us into the half-time break 4-0 ahead.

Alexander Isak scored the most difficult of his four chances to make it 5-0 around the hour mark, finding the net for the first time in three games, having cut a frustrated figure for large portions of the evening.

You won't be surprised to hear that there are plenty of high scores to come, then, but our decision for Man of the Match was a nightmare, with Murphy, Sandro Tonali, Schär, Barnes, and Burn all in contention.

Serena Taylor / Newcastle United

The Good

Sandro Tonali put on a clinic here, and it was impossible to tell that he'd just completed a similarly relentless 90-minute shift a few days earlier against Manchester United. The more he plays, the better he gets, and his understanding with the Brazilians in the heart of our team is a joy to watch. He's a massive reason that this season could yet turn out to be the best in our recent history, and he's proving to be well worth the wait.

Closely behind our Italian maestro comes the much less exotic Jacob Murphy, who was the most threatening player in black and white in the first half, especially. His goal was even better than Tonali's against Brentford, and he clearly meant it, while some of his deliveries into the box were deserving of so much more. We were chuffed that he did end up with an assist for the fourth goal, which takes his tally to 13 for the season.

On the opposite flank, Harvey Barnes is also at the peak of his powers now that he's had his first extended run in his favourite position. He's oozing confidence from every pore, and the way he scored his goal was wonderful. He was also key in the second goal and was unlucky not to register an assist for Alexander Isak, though we'll gladly take the hilarity of another Guehi own goal instead!

Kieran Trippier playing this well this late in his career fills our hearts with happiness. He was tremendous yet again here, up against a very dangerous opponent in Eze, and also offered plenty in attack as well. Outside of all of that, though, it's his leadership that still stands out the most. He was geeing the crowd up to put Eze off for the penalty and appeared to give Nick Pope the instructions he needed to make a massive save.

Aside from the elbow to his face, this was a brilliant evening for Fabian Schär. He's slowly found his way back to peak form after a shaky patch in the middle of the season, and tonight he showcased everything that's so good about him. His passing was outstanding; he was a threat from set pieces, and his finish for the fourth goal was so clever. He's had his share of poor games, but has still been one of our men of the season.

Dan Burn has outshone his central defensive partner on plenty of occasions, but they were equally as good as each other in this one. The big man continues to be a beast in the air and was yet again our busiest defender with a total of eight interventions, including seven clearances. One hospital ball for Anthony Gordon aside, his passing was really solid too. Sven Botman isn't getting back into this team easily!

Ahead of those three, Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton seemed to be enjoying themselves on the hallowed turf. Bruno misplaced a few passes early on but grew into the contest and was involved in a few of the goals, while Joelinton's pass to Tino Livramento for the second and tackle on Maxence Lacroix for the fifth summed up everything about his all-action style of play. They both seemed to be fuming to be taken off!

Speaking of Tino Livramento, we're running out of superlatives for him at the moment. He's another who seems to be going from strength to strength under the coaching of Eddie Howe and Co, with his attacking contribution increasing by the match. He must be a joy for Barnes to play ahead of in this form.

While we believe the penalty given against Nick Pope was incredibly harsh, he did come an awful long way and could have made a much clearer contact with the ball. This was his only shaky moment, though, and his save from Eze was a world-class display of composure and patience.

It took him four attempts, but Alexander Isak ended his mini-drought with a typically superb goal from arguably the most difficult of all his chances. That strike took him to 25 for the season, and he's still in with a great shout of breaking the 30 barrier if he stays fit. Someone is due to suffer another brace or hat-trick at his hands soon, surely?

In Eddie Howe's stead, Jason Tindall had another brilliant 90 minutes in the dugout at St James'. While Howe deserves immense credit for leaving us in a position where we can play so well without him being present, Tindall deserves equally as much for his leadership of the squad in our head coach's absence. They're a modern-day Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, aren't they?

Serena Taylor / Newcastle United

The Bad

We feel silly to have been worried about the counter-attacking threat that Crystal Palace would provide here. They were rotten and we battered them from the first whistle. Considering they had five at the back, we seemed to find an awful lot of space down their flanks, with Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Muñoz being turned inside out by our wingers, full-backs, and wide central midfielders. We truly hope Steve Parish was there to see this one in the flesh.

Are there any good referees in this division? Darren England was another no-hoper, with his decision to award a penalty against Pope a travesty. If it takes the match referee, who saw the action live and didn't give anything, over a few minutes to watch the same incident again before coming to a decision, how on Earth is that a 'clear and obvious' error? They're just making it up as they go along these days, and it's destroying the beautiful game. At least justice was done with the save. What an awful, awful penalty.

Callum Wilson, Sean Longstaff, and Emil Krafth stood out like sore thumbs when they entered the fray after the brilliance we'd witnessed from those they replaced. None of them are good enough on the ball or athletic enough to be seen as anything more than 'bodies' these days, unfortunately, but at least in Krafth's case, he seems to be content with that and is solid enough at his core function of defending. We can't wait to see the back of Longstaff and Wilson, sadly.

Serena Taylor / Newcastle United

The Average

Anthony Gordon and Joe Willock were the first substitutes off the bench, but it's never easy coming into a game that's already done and dusted. They each saw plenty of the ball, with 19 touches apiece, and tried to drive us forward whenever they could. They'll make far bigger impacts than this before the end of the season, we're sure, in contests that aren't sewn up by the time they're introduced.

Serena Taylor / Newcastle United

The Breakdown

We'll never tire of dishing out 8s and 9s, and we even considered a 10 for someone here...

The XI

Nick Pope – 8

Kieran Trippier – 9 (off 79')

Fabian Schär – 9

Dan Burn – 9

Tino Livramento – 8

Bruno Guimarães – 8 (off 72')

Sandro Tonali – 9 ⭐️

Joelinton – 8 (off 62')

Jacob Murphy – 9 (off 62')

Alexander Isak – 7 (off 72')

Harvey Barnes – 9

The Subs

Anthony Gordon – 6 (on 62')

Joe Willock – 6 (on 62')

Callum Wilson – 5 (on 72')

Sean Longstaff – 5 (on 72')

Emil Krafth – 5 (on 79')

The Gaffer

Eddie Howe (Jason Tindall) – 10

The Opposition

Crystal Palace – 3

The Ref

Darren England – 4

Serena Taylor / Newcastle United

The Next

One of the most intense weeks of the season ends with a massive game at Villa Park on Saturday evening as Jason Tindall renews his rivalry with Unai Emery and the rest of Aston Villa's backroom team.

After two huge wins, we're in 'just don't lose' territory ahead of the 5.30 p.m. kick-off, which Sky will broadcast live. However, with the way we're playing at the moment, it's hard not to feel a little bit confident...

Howay the lads!