Newcastle romp to victory over Crystal Palace
Newcastle eased to victory (Owen Humphreys/PA)
Newcastle warmed up for their Champions League showdown with Borussia Dortmund with a 4-0 Premier League demolition of Crystal Palace as Sandro Tonali returned to action.
The Italy international, who is subject to an investigation into allegations of betting breaches, was introduced as a second-half substitute to warm applause from the locals among a crowd of 52,189 at St James’ Park.
Jacob Murphy’s early strike and further goals from Anthony Gordon and Sean Longstaff before the break put the Magpies in the driving seat and Callum Wilson cemented the points with 24 minutes remaining to send his side into Wednesday night’s clash with Dortmund on Tyneside brimming with confidence.
If Eddie Howe headed home in positive mood, opposite number Roy Hodgson set off on the long journey back to South London reflecting on a bad afternoon for his injury-plagued squad.
Newcastle needed just four minutes to force their way in front, if a little fortuitously, when Kieran Trippier cushioned Fabian Schar’s long pass perfectly into the path of Murphy, who hooked the ball towards Callum Wilson at the far post only to see it loop over keeper Sam Johnstone and into the net – and an offside decision was eventually reversed after a VAR check.
The visitors might have been level almost immediately after Jean-Philippe Mateta got his head to Will Hughes’ corner, but he could not find the target, and Johnstone had to make a solid save to keep out Murphy’s 25th-minute strike from distance.
Gordon went desperately close on the half-hour when he met Murphy’s deflected cross first time and saw his effort come back off the crossbar, and Wilson could not climb high enough at the far post to direct Trippier’s
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