Newcastle United leave cryptic message for Sunderland & make brutal Stadium of Light 'change' after 3-0 win

Newcastle United left a cryptic message on their club website and a not-so-subtle one on social media following Saturday's 3-0 derby win over Sunderland.

The Tyne-Wear derby returned after almost eight years away thanks to the 'magic' of the FA Cup as The Magpies and Black Cats clashed in the third round at the Stadium of Light. Ultimately Newcastle's Premier League quality shone through with Alexander Isak's second-half brace adding to Dan Ballard's own goal in the first half.

It had been a week of own goals on and off the pitch for Sunderland after the club approved the decoration of the Stadium of Light's Black Cat Bar to cater to Newcastle supporters for the match. Photos of pro-Newcastle and anti-Sunderland signage at the Stadium of Light leaked on social media in the build-up to the match - leading to outrage from the Sunderland supporters.

The overwhelming backlash saw the club decide to take the signs down in the Black Cats Bar, but Newcastle weren't done making digs at their fierce rivals on social media after the comfortable win.

The Magpies' official X account tweeted: "We've been made to feel right at home this week [eyes emoji]."

The tweet was accompanied by a picture of the empty Stadium of Light stand that housed 6,000 Newcastle fans during the match. However, the photo of the stand was modified to read 'howay the lads' in the Geordie spelling as opposed to the 'ha'way' spelling that is actually present in the stadium.

The tweet was also a reference to one of the signs in the Black Cats Bar which appeared to 'correct' the spelling.

The club continued to bask in the glory of the derby win in a far more subtle one in their club website match report. The report provided an accurate description of the game while the first letter of each paragraph spelt out popular Toon Army acronyms - SMB (sad Mackem b-------), UTM (up the Mags) and HWTL (howay the lads).

And with that, the Tyne-Wear derby was won both on and off the pitch for Newcastle.