Ipswich relegated from Premier League after heavy Newcastle defeat
Newcastle 3-0 Ipswich: Eddie Howe returned to the dugout as his team shot back into the top four
Newcastle welcomed Eddie Howe back to work by returning to the Premier League’s top three as 10-man Ipswich’s relegation was confirmed.
Howe, who was admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia earlier this month, returned to the training ground on Thursday and watched from the dugout at St James’ Park as his side was made to graft for a 3-0 win despite Ben Johnson’s 37th-minute dismissal for a second bookable offence.
Alexander Isak’s penalty in first-half stoppage-time and second-half headers from Dan Burn and substitute Will Osula sent Howe’s men back above Manchester City, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest – who have a game in hand – and maintained their push for Champions League football.
For the visitors, the mood was very different as their stay in the top flight drew to a close with four games remaining.
The visitors capitalised on a sloppy start by the hosts with Jack Clarke flashing the ball across the face of goal after latching on to Dan Burn’s loose pass and Liam Delap seeing a controlled volley from the resulting corner blocked on its way to goal.
Fabian Schar had to atone for his error by blocking Delap’s shot after presenting the ball to the striker, but as the hosts finally found a rhythm, Bruno Guimaraes had a 22nd-minute goal ruled out for a foul on keeper Alex Palmer and Sam Morsy survived a VAR check for a crude challenge on Joe Willock with the temperature rising.
Julio Enciso whipped a 32nd-minute shot over Nick Pope’s crossbar after Ipswich had taken a quick free-kick, but Isak missed the target with a header from a Harvey Barnes cross at the other end and was similarly inaccurate with an ambitious volley from Murphy’s delivery seconds later.
However, the visitors’ afternoon took a decided turn for the worse with eight minutes of the half remaining when Johnson, who had earlier been booked for diving, hauled back Isak and was given a second yellow card by referee Michael Salisbury.
Palmer did well to preserve his clean sheet after defender Luke Woolfenden could only stab Murphy’s 41st-minute cross towards his own goal, and Woolfenden came to the rescue to head off the line after Guimaraes had hooked Willock’s header towards goal.
In a rip-roaring conclusion to the half, Sandro Tonali hit the bar with a stunning curling effort and, after Salisbury had been advised to review Enciso’s challenge on Jacob Murphy, Isak stepped up to blast the spot-kick low to Palmer’s left to finally break the deadlock with his 26th goal of the season.
Tonali and Barnes both cleared the crossbar with early attempts as the second half got underway, but the Magpies doubled their advantage with 56 minutes gone when they worked a short corner for Kieran Trippier to deliver the ball onto Burn’s head, and he made no mistake from point-blank range.
Murphy went just wide from distance and Palmer saved brilliantly from Willock, but Osula looped in a header from an 80th-minute Trippier corner to wrap up the win.