Newcastle United temporarily moved up to sixth in the Premier League table with a 4-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park.
Alexander Isak scored a brace while Anthony Gordon and Fabian Schar were also on the scoresheet as the Magpies recorded back-to-back Premeir League wins for the first time since December.
Newcastle hosted Ange Postecoglou’s men having picked up seven points from nine in their three matches since the international break.
Eddie Howe made two changes to his starting XI from last weekend’s 1-0 win at Fulham. Elliot Anderson replaced the injured Joe Willock while Harvey Barnes came in for Lewis Hall, who was only fit enough to make the bench after struggling with a quad injury.
That saw a reshuffle at the back. Jacob Murphy dropped into right-back and Dan Burn moved back over to left-back as Emil Krafth and Fabian Schar formed a new-look centre-back partnership.
United made a positive start and got broke the deadlock in the 30th minute when Isak fired his 20th goal of campaign. And in a throwback to last season’s 6-1 hammering, the hosts grabbed a quick-fire second when Gordon capitalised on Pedro Porro’s mistake.
Newcastle looked rampant and should have extended their advantage either further. But their missed chances didn’t come back to haunt them as Isak added a third in the 51st minute before Schar scored a header late on.
Here’s our Newcastle United player ratings from the victory on Tyneside:
1. Martin Dubravka - 7
His miscommunication with Emil Krafth almost gifted Spurs a goal but otherwise looked relatively assured.
2. Jacob Murphy - 8
Got forward superbly despite the slight change in position. Teamed up with Anthony Gordon to cause problems down the right-hand side.
3. Emil Krafth - 7.5
Given the runaround in the opening stages and a moment of hesitation also let Spurs in. But overall put in a solid shift.
4. Fabian Schar - 8.5
Accomplished defensive display finished off with a brilliant headed goal in the closing stages.