Newcastle United’s hopes of playing European football were given a major boost after putting a forlorn Burnley to the sword at Turf Moor.
The Toon Army ran out 4-1 winners, with goals from Callum Wilson, Sean Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes and the inform Alexander Isak.
A consolation goal from Irish Defender Dara O’Shea was not enough to uplift Burnley Spirts as they stare down the barrel of relegation.
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Burnley’s fate is all but sealed
Going into this game the Clarets were in their best form of the season, having only lost one of their last eight games.
On the back of this fine form, it had appeared that Vincent Kompany’s men were going to make a good go of trying to survive in the Premier League.
But after this defeat, it looks like it is going to be difficult, while not strictly impossible.
They travel down to North London next weekend to take on Tottenham Hotspur, should they win that game and relegation rivals Nottingham Forest lose to Chelsea, there could be a scenario where Burnley and Forest have a straight shootout when they face each other on the final day of the season.
However, with so much having to go their way in order for them to stay up, it would now appear that after one solitary season back in England’s top flight, the Lancashire side will be back in the Championship next season.
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Newcastle are back to the side we knew
Cast your mind back to last season and Newcastle were the team that everyone hated playing.
They were aggressive, technically brilliant and an incredibly savvy outfit that knew how to use the dark arts of football to their advantage.
There had been points this season that Eddie Howe’s side had looked the opposite of that.
At times they’ve looked tepid and a million miles away from the team that wowed fans last season.
Injuries played a big part in that, but some fans believed that it might be time for a change in the dugout at St James’ Park.
But those doubters have been silenced in the past month with Newcastle winning five of their seven and reverting back to that unrelenting and intimidating style of football we had grown accustomed to in the last campaign.
This return to form could not have come at a better time as they continue to push for Europa League football.
This win sees them leapfrog Manchester United and keeps the pressure on Tottenham.
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Jacob Murphy still has a lot to offer this Newcastle team
When the new ownership group came in at Newcastle, many fans began drawing up a shortlist of dream players that they wanted and compiling lists of the players that they wanted out of the club.
Jacob Murphy may very well have appeared on the latter of those two lists.
He was seen by many as the remanence of a bygone era, and many thought he would be quickly moved on when the Magpies started to spend money.
But that is far from the case.
He has become the ultimate utility player for Howe and a major attacking threat going forward.
During the game against Burnley the 29-year-old put in a player-of-the-match display with two assists and being the main driving force for the first goal.
Murphy has only played 18 Premier League games this season due to an injury he picked up against Arsenal.
His side have missed him. He is a major source of consistency and experience that many of the younger players in the side look to.
When the summer transfer window rolls around, there may very well be a temptation to bring in a high-profile winger to replace Murphy.
But if he keeps delivering performances like this one and can stay injury-free, he should have no issues holding down his place next season.
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No plan B from Burnley
Last season in the Championship, Burnley electrified the league with their Manchester City-esque style of play.
One of the things that comes with playing football that way, is playing the ball out from the back.
To be able to do this in the Premier League, you must have players who are comfortable playing in this style and coping with intense pressing from the opposition.
While the Clarets managed this last season, this season it’s been more of a struggle.
That was shown again during this game when Lorenz Assignon was dispossessed around 20 yards from his own goal by the towering Dan Burn, which led to Newcastle scoring their third of the first half.
This has become such a common theme at Turf Moor, that you have to wonder why there has not been a change of approach.
While there are a lot of very technically gifted players at Burnley, many of them are maybe not quite at Premier League level just yet.
There is an argument that Kompany should have been slightly more pragmatic in his attempts to keep them in the league.
However, you could make the case that he should be applauded for sticking to his guns and playing how he wants to.
But Premier League survival had to come before anything else, including style of play.
