'Lovely' - Jacob Murphy breaks silence about stunning Newcastle United v Crystal Palace strike

Murphy opened the scoring in emphatic fashion with a tight-angled finish before a Marc Guehi own goal and Harvey Barnes strike made it 3-0 before half-time. Then on the stroke of half-time, Murphy’s cross was headed in by Fabian Schar to make it 4-0.

Alexander Isak then got in on the action in the second half to make it 5-0. The win takes Newcastle up to third in the table with six games left to play as they look to secure Champions League qualification.

Jacob Murphy reacts to Newcastle United’s 5-0 win over Crystal Palace

In addition to Murphy’s goal and assist, he also put in several dangerous crosses that were unable to be turned in by his teammates. Isak, who was frustrated a number of times by Henderson, saw a few gilt-edged opportunities pass him by with one in the first-half, supplied by Murphy, eliciting a great save from the England international - but it will be one that the Magpies man will feel should have ended with him wheeling away in celebration.

After the game, a gleeful Murphy told Sky Sports: “We're in a great place at the moment. We started off really well. We knew this game was going to be really difficult. Their away form recently has been top notch. We knew it would be difficult if we didn't start fast. We started really quick and got our reward

"We're not studying [the table] too hard. We knew a win today would put us in a good position. We're in a good position but there's a lot more weekends to go and a lot can change so we have to stay on top of our game and keep going."

Did Jacob Murphy mean his goal v Crystal Palace

Murphy’s goal drew comparisons with Sandro Tonali’s winning strike against Brentford. The winger, much like Tonali before him, picked up the ball and, despite the angle going against him, slammed the ball past an unsuspecting goalkeeper to much surprise within St James’ Park.

On whether he meant to shoot for his goal: "I did mean it, yeah! When the juice is flowing, you've just got to hit it. The defender's come out so it was going to be hard to get it through him so I thought 'aah, just shoot here'. Lovely.

"We always knew that the first goal was going to be really important so I'm happy to get it and happy to start of so well."

On how things have been without Eddie Howe: "Everyone has shared texts with him and he's on the road to recovery. We're missing him but once again I think we put a performance in that he'd be really proud of. There's so many we need to thank for tonight as well that are continuing the great work the gaffer does with us."

With Aston Villa at Villa Park to come on Saturday, the Magpies know they have just six more Premier League games to realise their ambitions of qualifying for the Champions League again. Post-match, Jason Tindall described those games as ‘six cup finals’.