Alan Pardew praised his players after a 3-1 win over West Brom drew Newcastle level on points with Chelsea.
Newcastle boss delighted after back-to-back wins for high-fliers
Alan Pardew praised his players after a 3-1 win over West Brom drew Newcastle level on points with fifth-placed Chelsea.
Papiss Cisse notched a brace from assists by Hatem Ben Arfa, who was also on target as the Magpies assumed control at The Hawthorns.
Substitute Shane Long pulled a goal back for the Baggies but the sixth-placed Magpies held on to record back-to-back top-flight wins and draw level on points with Chelsea.
They also moved eight points clear of seventh-placed Liverpool, who they take on next Sunday.
Pardew told
Sky Sports: "I just thought we had a real good control of our passing today and our movement was terrific.
Worked well
"We tried to work down the sides of (Youssouf) Mulumbu because he protects the centre of the pitch really well and that worked well for us.
"But you need outstanding players to win games here and our best player stepped forward today - Hatem Ben Arfa was really, really difficult to play against, some of his runs were incredible.
"And Demba (Ba) and Papiss are going to score goals and I kept saying to the staff, 'we're going to get three goals in a game shortly because we've got so many goalscorers', and today it came."
But the Newcastle boss was quick to praise his squad as a whole.
He added: "We've just got a really good bunch who are trying so hard. To have the same points as Chelsea at this stage is phenomenal, really.
"And you have to take your hats off to the players - they've worked really, really hard."
