Newcastle run riot to leave Burnley teetering on edge of relegation
Incentivised by knowing they could’ve ended the day outside the bottom three, Burnley flew out of the traps at Turf Moor and were unfortunate not to take an early lead when Jacob Bruun Larsen ghosted in behind, forcing a smart stop out of Martin Dúbravka.
But for all their early leg work, the Clarets were undone in the simplest of fashions, as with their first meaningful attack of the game Newcastle took the lead through Callum Wilson, who tapped home from inside the six-yard box after Arijanet Muric saved Alexander Isak’s initial effort.
Burnley’s response to falling behind was muted at best, and it was instead the visitors who looked likelier to double their advantage.
They duly did so ten minutes before the break when a dogged Wilson battled with Maxime Estève on the byline and cut the ball back for the onrushing Sean Longstaff to fire the ball into the bottom corner.
Unrelenting in their quest of European football, the Magpies didn’t take their foot off the gas, instead searching for a game-killing third goal.
A huge helping hand from Lorenz Assignon who lost the ball in his own half helped out Anthony Gordon, who laid the ball on a plate for Bruno Guimarães to fire home a third before the break.
Things could, and very probably should, have got worse within minutes of the restart when Josh Brownhill felled Gordon in the area, but Muric gave his side a temporary reprieve - emphasis on the word temporary - when he became the first PL goalkeeper to save an Isak penalty.
It wasn’t long though before the Swede was laughing, as he collected Jacob Murphy’s cross at the back post and lifted the ball into the roof of the net.
That fourth goal sparked a mass exodus inside Turf Moor, but those who did stay almost witnessed a scant consolation when Sander Berge’s piledriver from distance whistled narrowly wide of the post.
Eddie Howe’s side somewhat heeded Burnley’s mercy plea after the fourth, with a raft of changes disrupting the pattern of the game - something which suited the shell-shocked hosts, who snatched a consolation from the head of Dara O’Shea.
Nottingham Forest’s win at Sheffield United only served to compound Burnley’s misery as today’s results leave them five adrift in the bottom three with only two games remaining. It’s a much brighter story for Newcastle, who are in pole position to claim a top seven finish.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle United)