Ipswich 0-4 Newcastle - Eddie Howe's Mags are officially back!

An early Christmas present for Newcastle United fans and an electric performance at Portman Road as Eddie Howe’s Mags hammered Ipswich to make it three wins on the spin in all competitions.

In a 4-0 victory that could’ve seen us score five or six - much like against Leicester this time last weekend - we saw a Jacob Murphy masterclass down the right, a stunning Alexander Isak hat-trick, another dominant midfield display from Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, along with a welcome clean sheet; our second on the spin in the league.

This, for me, feels like the turning point in what has been a stop-start season. Back-to-back wins over Leicester and Brentford set us up perfectly, but away days at 'lesser' sides we've previously struggled to break down has often been where we've come unstuck, yet this was a one-sided battering and the performance of a team who finally look back to their best.

The result sends us up to seventh, one point behind Man City and two behind Aston Villa, capping off a perfect end to a three-game run that felt huge after that dismal 4-2 defeat to Brentford two weeks ago.

Howe made just one change for our third game in the space of eight days, seeing Joe Willock replace the suspended Joelinton in midfield. Other than that, it was the same side that got us through to the cup semi-final on Wednesday.

We made the perfect start through Isak, who smashed home the loose ball after Murphy’s cross was initially cut out. The offside flag went up initially but replays showed Murphy was onside after he latched onto Schar’s brilliant ball in the build up.

Naturally, that gave us the early lift we craved and Bruno was running the show. At the other end, Hall made an outstanding defensive header to clear a dangerous cross minutes before Gordon should’ve made it 2-0, only for his header into the ground to go just over from Murphy’s cross.

Ipswich then had a good period and forced Dubravka into a big save to deny Szmodics before Isak and Bruno combined for a counter at the other end, which was stopped by Morsy’s last-ditch block as Murphy let fly.

Another huge chance came our way and Isak HAD to score. It was won back superbly by Tonali and Murphy picked out the Swede with a lovely through ball, yet Isak’s one-on-one effort was straight at Muric just when it was begging to be slotted into the far corner.

Thankfully, we didn’t spend long regretting that miss and quickly made it 2-0 just after the half hour mark. Murphy was the scorer and Gordon created it, cutting inside before slipping it wide to Murphy who smashed home emphatically in off the bar! A big goal in a frantic end to end game and one he thoroughly deserved for a brilliant first half display.

That’s now five goal involvements in his last three league games and a thunderous strike he’ll have enjoyed even more as a former Norwich City player!

Isak’s movement was electric, constantly finding pockets of space through dropping short to link the play or darting in behind against two centre-back who once again couldn’t live with him. Bruno was pulling the strings, Gordon was a constant out ball down our left, Tonali was mopping up superbly in front of our back four and Willock was also bright in that left-sided role Joelinton often occupies.

To cap off a fantastic first 45, we made it 3-0 in added time as Isak bagged a brace and his ninth of the season. It was awful from Ipswich but brilliant pressing from Bruno, who picked Cajuste’s pocket from Muric’s pass out and fed Isak to do the rest from a few yards out. 3-0!

Five minutes into the second half we were the width of the post from making it four. It was a lovely move down the left which ended with Hall’s superb cross to find Bruno arriving in the box. His header was a decent one but glanced the outside of the post.

A few moments later and it was four! Murphy did superbly once again, showing brilliant feet in a tight space to pick out Isak in the box before the Swede did the rest. 4-0, his first hat-trick for the club and the first player to achieve that feat since Ayoze Perez against Southampton five years ago! A classy finish but once again he had Murphy to thank, who created something from nothing with Blue shirts all around. One of the assists of the season and his SIXTH goal involvement in our last three.

Ipswich were all at sea and we were rampant, missing a big chance to make it 5-0 as Willock burst into the box and cut in well, only to fire what should’ve been a pretty simple opportunity well over before Howe made three changes on the hour mark. A wise move given the score line and busy schedule as Barnes, Trippier and Longstaff replaced Murphy, Livramento and Willock.

It didn’t take us long to create another chance, although it was Barnes this time who couldn’t keep his shot down before our fourth change saw Almiron replace hat-trick hero Isak with 20 minutes remaining. Miley also came on and looked the part immediately, picking up from where he left off last season after an injury-riddled 2024.

Burn thought he’d made it 5-0 in stoppage time after tapping in from close range, but VAR denied the big man a goal in front of the travelling Toon Army, who’d had some day out nonetheless.

Next up for Newcastle, a Boxing Day clash with Aston Villa which promises to be a big game in the battle for the top six after their 2-1 win over Man City today.

STARTING XI: Dubravka - Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall - Bruno, Tonali, Willock - Murphy, Isak, Gordon.

SUBS: Vlachodimos, Trippier, Barnes, Targett, Osula, Almiron, Kelly, Longstaff, Miley.

Howay the lads!