Newcastle United moved up to sixth place in the Premier League standings with a commanding 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at St James' Park in Saturday's lunchtime kickoff.
A couple of quickfire strikes in the first half from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon gave the Magpies a solid lead at the interval. Isak then netted his second goal early in the second period before Fabian Schar added the icing on the cake with a fourth of the afternoon late in the day.
It was a fiery start to the match at St James' Park, with both sides getting a few early tackles in. However, it was the hosts that looked sharper in the early knockings and carved out the first chance of the game as Gordon broke down the right and into the Spurs box, but his cross was just behind Harvey Barnes and Spurs were able to clear.
Spurs got their first opportunity just a few minutes later when Brandon Johnson beat Dan Burn for pace and picked out Timo Werner in acres of space in the box, but the RB Leipzig loanee was unable to get over the lofted cross and fired his shot high over the crossbar.
Newcastle then began to control the game and came close to the opening goal after two quick corners, the second of which saw Barnes rise the highest but he failed to get enough on his header attempt and glanced his attempt wide.
However, the Magpies' pressure eventually paid off at the half-hour mark when they launched a counter-attack through Bruno Guimaraes. The Brazilian found Gordon, who shrugged off Destiny Udogie and put through Isak, who beat Micky van de Ven before slotting the first goal of the afternoon past Guglielmo Vicario in the Spurs goal.
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Just 95 seconds later, Eddie Howe's side extended their advantage after Pedro Porro's poor clearance fell to Gordon in the Spurs' penalty area, and the attacker made no mistake with his finish after leaving Van de Ven on the ground with a quick cut inside.
While Spurs were still seeing plenty of the ball, the hosts were the ones that were doing more in possession and could have been three up before the interval had it not been for some good last-ditch defending by Udogie and Van de Ven in the closing moments.
However, the Magpies did not have to wait too long for their third of the afternoon, which came just five minutes after the break, with Isak getting the run on the Spurs backline from inside his own half, and the Newcastle number 14 showed plenty of composure, producing a smart finish to extend his side's lead further and bag his 21st goal of the season.
Ange Postecoglou tried shaking things up at the hour mark, withdrawing Son Heung-min, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur, but the Lilywhites were still struggling to create clear-cut chances despite having the lion's share of possession for the majority of the 90 minutes.
As the match entered the final 10 minutes, Spurs seemed to have accepted their fate, but the Magpies were not done. The hosts earned their 16th corner of the match three minutes before the end of regulation time, which Gordon delivered into a dangerous area, and Schar towered above his marker before powering home a header, sending the Toon Army into raptures.
The result was a significant one in the league standings, with Newcastle moving above Manchester United into sixth place before the Red Devils take on Bournemouth later in the day. Spurs, meanwhile, dropped to fifth behind Aston Villa on goal difference.
The Magpies will return to action on April 24 when they travel to face Crystal Palace, while the Lilywhites' next league match will be the North London derby at the end of the month.
Devesh Jaganath
