Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace. Premier League.
St James' Park, NewcastleAttendance52,189.
Report and highlights as Jacob Murphy scored and set up two more to give Newcastle their fourth Premier League win in five; Anthony Gordon, Sean Longstaff and Callum Wilson also got on the scoresheet as Crystal Palace disappointed; Newcastle move up to fifth while Palace stay 10th
Saturday 21 October 2023 19:48, UK
Jacob Murphy shined as Newcastle scored three first-half goals in a 4-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace at St James’ Park.
Murphy - on his first league start of the season - scored the opener with a mishit cross (4) before setting up Anthony Gordon (44) as Newcastle struck twice in the space of three minutes at the end of the first half with Sean Longstaff capitalising on Marc Guehi's error to make it 3-0 (45+2).
Murphy finished the game with a goal and two assists as his sweeping pass set up Newcastle's fourth for Callum Wilson after a fine counter (66) from the hosts capped off the perfect performance ahead of Wednesday's Champions League group game against Borussia Dortmund.
Sandro Tonali was met with a huge roar from the crowd as he came on in the 69th minute after being taken out of the starting XI amid a betting probe. Newcastle boss Eddie Howe says "the hardest part is ahead" for Tonali irrespective of the punishment handed down to the Italian.
"He's had the love of the supporters today, but that's difficult to maintain over a long period of time," said Howe. "Who knows what's ahead? It's great for him to know he's got the support, not just of the senior management at the football club and the manager, but also the support of the supporters and they're the most important people."
Newcastle, who have won four of their last five Premier League games, move up to fifth in the table while Palace remain in 10th.
It was one-way traffic from the off at St James' Park as Palace were left stunned by Newcastle's intensity in the early stages.
Newcastle took the lead four minutes in after Murphy, seemingly by accident, lobbed Sam Johnstone from an angle. The goal had initially been called offside but a VAR check showed Kieran Trippier had timed his run before setting up the opener.
It was down the right that Newcastle caused Palace most of their problems as they dominated Roy Hodgson's side. Longstaff, Trippier and Murphy combined well to overwhelm Palace's defence, who played with their backs against the wall for most of the first half.
An unmarked Gordon should have doubled Newcastle's lead when Murphy found him at the back post with a cross after half an hour but his effort hit a post. Palace, meanwhile, did not even manage a shot on target before the break.
Their resistance ultimately broke in the final stages of the first period. Gordon made up for his earlier miss by converting Murphy's inch-perfect cross at the back post with a first-time left-footed volley with a minute left of regulation time.
Only three minutes later Longstaff capitalised on a slip from Guehi to fire Newcastle into a 3-0 lead in stoppage-time of half-time. Palace failed to register a single shot on target in the opening period.
Newcastle, understandably, took their foot off the gas ahead of Wednesday's Champions League visit of Dortmund but remained a threat on the break. Palace were afforded more chances but lacked the belief to hurt the hosts.
As the space opened up for Newcastle they grabbed their fourth on the counter. After a flowing move, which included a fabulous assist from Murphy, Wilson scored his fifth goal of the season just before he was taken off.
Palace had good efforts from Odsonne Edouard and substitute Jesurun Rak-Sakyi saved by Nick Pope in the closing stages, but it was an underwhelming afternoon for the visitors. Newcastle, meanwhile, reminded the Premier League why they should be feared as they put their slow start to the season firmly behind them.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe told Sky Sports: "Palace can be a really tough nut to crack and we knew the first goal of the game was going to be important, thankfully we got it early.
"I thought we attacked well in the first half. We were incisive and clinical. I don't think we created an abundance of chances today but when they did come they were good chances for us and we took them very well.
"I'm delighted with the team's mentality, it's been a tough couple of weeks for us because we had a lot of players away and very disjointed training. But I was delighted with the response."
On Murphy, he added: "He did very well today. He was a real threat on the right-hand side in the first half, combining with Sean Longstaff and Kieran Trippier who I also thought were excellent with him.
"He's a huge player for us, he was magnificent for us last year. He's dovetailed really well with Miguel Almiron and they both bring different threats, but are high class players."
On the support shown for Tonali, he said: "Class from our supporters, absolute class. It didn't surprise me, but it was a wonderful ovation for him."
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson told Sky Sports: "The scoreline sums up the team's performance. I don't intend to stand here and seek excuses for that.
"I don't think we got anywhere near the level that we have been playing at. We got quite harshly punished for the errors we were making and the lack of control that we could establish during the game.
"Those two goals before half-time really were killer blows. Everyone knows if you go in 1-0 down at half-time away against a team like Newcastle it is going to be a very long and tough second half. If you go in 3-0 down then all you can really hope is that the team does not collapse. I don't think we did.
"We weren't anywhere near good enough to give Newcastle the game that I expected us to give them."
Newcastle are in Champions League action on Wednesday when they host Borussia Dortmund at St James' Park; kick-off 8pm.
Eddie Howe's side's next Premier League clash is on Saturday October 28 when they travel to Wolves, live on Sky Sports; kick-off 5.30pm.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace are also on Sky Sports on Friday October 27 when they host Tottenham on Friday Night Football; kick-off 8pm.
