Newcastle defeated Crystal Palace 5-0 on Wednesday, its second big win in four days, and moved up to third place in the Premier League.
Four of the goals came in the first half at St James’ Park, from Jacob Murphy, Harvey Barnes, and Fabian Schar, as well as an unfortunate own goal by Marc Guehi. Eberechi Eze took a penalty for Palace, which Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope saved.
Alexander Isak added a fifth goal in the 58th minute, his 21st of the season, as Saudi-controlled Newcastle extended its winning streak to six games in a row across all competitions after defeating Manchester United 4-1 on Sunday. That streak included a win over Liverpool in the English League Cup final, their first major trophy in 70 years.
Newcastle surpassed Nottingham Forest and closed the gap on second-place Arsenal to four points, and the club appears to be on track to return to the Champions League next season. The Premier League will have five representatives, and Newcastle is five points ahead of sixth-place Chelsea with six games left.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, who was diagnosed with pneumonia and is currently recovering in the hospital, will have enjoyed the dominant performance.
Howe also missed the Manchester United match, and Newcastle is doing just fine without him at the moment.
Palace conceded five goals for the second consecutive game, following a 5-2 loss at Manchester City on Saturday.
Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
