Alexander Isak scored his first Premier League hat-trick as Newcastle wrapped up a perfect week by thrashing Ipswich 4-0 at Portman Road to move into seventh.
Having scored four goals against Leicester last Saturday and beaten Brentford on Wednesday to reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals, Newcastle came into this game full of confidence and outclassed Ipswich, still waiting for their first home league win of the season.
Eddie Howe, the Newcastle boss, said after the game that we are seeing “world-class” Isak return to his best form and appeared to rule out the club cashing in on the striker to comply with financial rules.
“There is no part of me or anyone at Newcastle that wants to let Alex go,” Howe said. “He’s part of our long-term plans. Personally, I don’t see that being an issue.”
He added: “The way he took his chances today, he’s got that coolness and composure in front of goal that very few other players have,” Howe said. “When you add his other qualities into the mix, how quick and technically gifted he is, he’s got it all.”
Alexander Isak celebrates scoring Newcastle’s third goal
Newcastle came flying out of the traps and scored 25 seconds in through Isak as he smashed in the opener after Jacob Murphy’s cross bounced back to him inside the box, although the goal was not awarded until at least two minutes later due to a lengthy VAR check.
Murphy, once again a stand-out performer for Newcastle, powered in their second after half an hour, taking him to three goals in two league games – as many as he scored in his previous 37 appearances.
Jacob Murphy celebrates after making it 2-0
Ipswich goalkeeper Arijanet Muric’s silly decision to go short to Jens Cajuste was punished just before the break as Bruno Guimaraes, the Newcastle captain, forced a turnover inside the box and allowed Isak to roll in for his second.
Isak’s hat-trick was complete after a miraculous back-heel assist from Murphy, showing great feet to evade a swarm of Ipswich defenders in the box before laying it on a plate for his striker, who left Portman Road with the match ball after his first treble for Newcastle.
Ipswich will remain in the bottom three over Christmas after suffering their heaviest home defeat since April 2018, while Newcastle momentarily move up to seventh, having started the weekend in the bottom half of the table.
Howe: Isak is returning to his best levels
Newcastle boss Howe says “world-class” Isak is rediscovering his best form and does not expect the striker’s future to be an issue during the January transfer window.
“Early season, we weren’t [getting him into the game] and weren’t functioning particularly well for him,” said Howe. “He plays a part in that as well, it is not one dimensional.
“We’ve seen in recent weeks the team functioning and performing better and giving him more ball around the box. Then it is about his natural ability taking over and he is playing with so much confidence now.
“I think we are seeing a return to his very best levels.”
Newcastle have had to sell players, such as Yankuba Minteh, to comply with the Premier League’s financial rules, but Howe appeared to rule out that happening with Isak next month when the window opens.
Asked if he wants to keep him, Howe said: “Absolutely. There is no part of me or anyone at Newcastle that wants to let Alex go. He’s part of our long-term plans. Personally, I don’t see that being an issue.”
McKenna: We have to take lessons from this
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna said his team are going to have to “show a different side” in their next two games against Arsenal and Chelsea to avoid suffering a similar fate after being overrun by Newcastle.
“We have to take some lessons from this,” he said. “We haven’t had many like that and we have been really competitive across the season. The group has been doing very well to be so competitive. We have to be close to 100 per cent to be competitive and we need to do all the right things.
“We didn’t manage to do that, we came up against an opponent that was better than us and the game ran away from us.
“There are things we need to do better, things that we’ve done really well this season and didn’t manage to show today. It is crystal clear that we are going to have to show a different side of us in these next few games.
“The game was realistically gone at half-time. The second half was about showing the right characteristics on the pitch and the crowd showed that too to a really high level.
“Most understand how hard it has been for the group to be as competitive as we have been. The crowd know how much effort it has taken. The game got away from us and we don’t want that feeling too often.”
Opta stats
- Scored in 25.95 seconds, Alexander Isak’s opener was Newcastle’s fourth-fastest ever goal in a Premier League match, after Alan Shearer v Man City in January 2003 (10.52), Miguel Almirón v West Brom in December 2020 (19.98), and Dwight Gayle v Liverpool in July 2020 (25.85).
- Alexander Isak was just the second Swedish player to score a Premier League hat-trick, after Freddie Ljungberg for Arsenal at Sunderland in May 2003. It was the first treble by a Newcastle player in the competition since Ayoze Pérez against Southampton in April 2019.
- Ipswich are only the sixth side to fail to win each of their opening nine home games of a Premier League season (D4 L5), after Crystal Palace (1997-98), West Ham (2002-03), Sunderland (2005-06), Aston Villa (2015-16), and Brighton (2020-21).
- Newcastle have won back-to-back Premier League games by a 4+ goal margin for just the third time, having previously done so in August 1994 and September 1998.
