Kieran Trippier's cheeky Sunderland gesture as £21m Newcastle United star responds perfectly to Liverpool call

Newcastle United secured North East bragging rights with a 3-0 Tyne-Wear derby win at Sunderland on Saturday afternoon - but in reality, those rights have been secure for some time.

Sunderland languishing between the second and third tiers of English football put the derby on an eight-year hiatus, ended only by the 'magic' of the FA Cup. The gulf between the two sides has never been so large in modern times, while Newcastle went into the match in poor form having lost seven of their last eight matches, the reality was Eddie Howe could still name a starting line-up worth over £275million - figures their red and white counterparts can only dream of.

Newcastle United expose gulf in class v Sunderland

Players with Champions League and Premier League experience were coming up against a young, enthusiastic but ultimately naive Championship side. Any logical person looking at the disparity between the two sides would predict a comfortable win for The Magpies. But derby games and FA Cup games can quite often defy logic, as Newcastle had previously found out.

On this occasion, common sense prevailed at the Stadium of Light with Newcastle cruising to a 3-0 win. For all of Newcastle's return to competing at the top end of the Premier League and playing Champions League football, a win over Sunderland felt almost like an unchecked piece from the club's list of goals.

But a Dan Ballard own goal and Alexander Isak brace ensured that box was firmly ticked off while keeping the dream of ending a 55-year trophy drought alive.

Sunderland were handed an opportunity to humble their rivals by the FA Cup draw. The Black Cats' so-called free hit saw them fail to lay a glove on Howe's side.

Although only 16 places separate the two clubs in the football pyramid, Sunderland were given a reminder of the quality Premier League sides pose. It was a reality check for the Wearsiders in some ways as they were put in their place as they tried to pass out against Newcastle's high press with little success.

"There was a gap between the two sides before the game and we haven't been able to close that over 90 minutes," admitted Sunderland boss Michael Beale afterwards.

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Newcastle's game was won by the individual battles on the pitch. Bruno Guimaraes pulled the strings with a swagger in midfield as Joelinton bullied his way through the first half, setting up The Magpies' opener.

But the United No. 7's derby was brought to a premature end minutes into the second half as he was withdrawn with a thigh issue. Howe described it after the match as the 'one negative' to come from the day as Newcastle's midfield had to regain their control of the match.

Perhaps the most intriguing individual battle of the day when the team news dropped at 11:45am was Sunderland's talisman Jack Clarke coming up against Kieran Trippier returning from an injury. The 33-year-old England international has endured a difficult spell recently and was subject to abuse from the Sunderland fans throughout the match.

But Trippier responded in the best way possible by completely nullifying Clarke while also posing a creative threat at the other end of the pitch. While the Newcastle captain for the day largely let his football do the talking, he couldn't resist a cheeky point to the scoreboard in response to Sunderland supporters.

Miguel Almiron 'back to his best'

Speaking of players getting back to their best, Howe got just the reaction he was after from Miguel Almiron after the winger was dropped from the starting line-up at Liverpool. Almiron's decision-making and quality in the final third had been questioned and criticised in recent matches, but not on this occasion.

It was an all-action display from the Paraguayan, who went after the ball like a persistent seagull after cheesy chips on Roker Beach. That was epitomised by him robbing Pierre Ekwah of possession to set up Isak for Newcastle's second.

"Miggy was physically very good and back to his best levels," Howe said. "That's no criticism of him as he's played almost every minute of every game but he's given his all, as he always does.

"He's such an incredible person and I'm delighted that he got that individual award really with the assist. It was a clinical bit of play from him and Alex gets his reward with the goal and we know how important that second goal was."

On the opposite flank, Anthony Gordon caused problems for Sunderland's defence as they resorted to fouling their opponents. Fittingly, the biggest cheer of the afternoon from the home end came when Luke O'Nien smashed into teenager Lewis Miley.

But that overly physical approach would still come back to bite the Black Cats as Ballard was penalised for a foul on Gordon inside the penalty area. Isak promptly stepped up to etch his name into Tyne-Wear derby folklore from the spot - becoming the first Newcastle player to score a brace at the Stadium of Light.

A derby to savour for Newcastle United

At long last, Newcastle have another derby win. One that sees them edge above Sunderland in all-time victories in the fixture.

Historically, there has been little to choose between the sides on the whole. While there have been more embarrassing results for either side in this fixture, there have been few Tyne-Wear derbies that have seen a side be as dominant as Newcastle were at the Stadium of Light.

With that comes a real sense of catharsis for The Magpies that can be savoured. And savour it they will as, who knows when the next derby match will be?