Isak hits first Newcastle hat-trick in victory over Ipswich

Alexander Isak scored a hat-trick, including Newcastle United's fastest-ever away goal in the Premier League, as the Magpies thrashed Ipswich Town 4-0 at Portman Road.

Eddie Howe's side, who also beat Leicester City 4-0 last week before making the League Cup semi-final on Wednesday, led inside 25 seconds courtesy of Isak's volley.

Jacob Murphy, whose run had helped tee up the opener, powered in a second shortly after the half-hour mark, then Isak punished some sloppy play from Ipswich to make it 3-0 before the break.

Murphy brilliantly assisted Isak for his hat-trick goal early in the second half, when Ipswich were arguably fortunate to avoid further punishment.

The convincing win takes Newcastle seventh in the Premier League table, just four points off the top four ahead of Arsenal's trip to Crystal Palace. Ipswich stay 18th, two points adrift of Leicester in 17th.

How the match unfolded

Newcastle had the ball in the net almost instantly, Isak lashing home after Murphy's cross was half-cleared. Assistant referee Natalie Aspinall raised her flag against Murphy, but the on-field decision to disallow the goal was overturned following a VAR review.

Anthony Gordon and Isak went close before the rampant visitors doubled their lead in the 32nd minute, with Murphy rattling a ferocious finish off the crossbar.

Ipswich then presented Newcastle with an early Christmas gift on the stroke of half-time, as Bruno Guimaraes dispossessed Jens Cajuste inside the hosts' area to leave Isak with a simple finish.

Gordon sent a sliding effort over an open goal right before half-time and Newcastle's relentless pressure continued after the break, Guimaraes hitting the post with a diving header.

Newcastle's main men combined for their fourth goal in the 54th minute, Murphy producing one of the assists of the season when his backheel found Isak for a prodded finish.

Joe Willock later blazed over when presented with a fine chance to make it 5-0, while Dan Burn saw a stoppage-time strike disallowed for offside following a VAR review.

Magpies soaring after big win

Newcastle have been up and down for much of 2024/25, but two 4-0 triumphs in the space of seven days suggests they have finally found their feet.

Watching the Magpies tear through Ipswich at will, it was remarkable to think they were being criticised for a lack of attacking thrust as recently as late November, when they failed to record a shot on target in a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace just five days after a tame 2-0 loss to West Ham.

Isak got them off to a dream start here, sending his volley bouncing off the wet turf and beyond Arijanet Muric before the Ipswich goalkeeper could even blink. It was Newcastle's earliest-ever away goal in the Premier League, and their fastest overall since Miguel Almiron netted after 20 seconds against West Bromwich Albion in December 2020.

Going on to claim the match ball, Isak has now hit double figures for Premier League goals this season, contributing eight involvements in his last four matches (six goals, two assists). His third goal was a thing of beauty made by Murphy's clever flick, and the winger now has three goals and three assists in his last five league games.

Ipswich defended poorly, but Newcastle deserve plenty of credit for the way they ruthlessly exploited the space left by their hosts. If not for some lacklustre finishing from Gordon and Willock, the scoreline could have been even more convincing.

All of a sudden, Newcastle's frontline appears littered with goals, with their improvement coming at the perfect time as they gear up for festive clashes with fellow European hopefuls Aston Villa, Manchester United and Tottenham.

Tractor Boys toil on home soil

Kieran McKenna was hoping last week's dramatic 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers would serve as a turning point for Ipswich, but their poor form at Portman Road is threatening to undermine their bid to avoid the drop.

Ipswich have now drawn four and lost five of their nine Premier League home matches this season.

Brighton & Hove Albion in 2020/21 are the only team in Premier League history to stay up after failing to win any of their first nine home games of a season, with the Seagulls going winless through their first 10.

The Tractor Boys did threaten to make it a contest at 1-0 down, with Cajuste lashing over from the edge of the box before Sammie Szmodics snuck in behind a napping Newcastle backline, only to be denied by stand-in goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

While Newcastle's quality told for their second and fourth goals, their third will have disappointed McKenna. With just three minutes of first-half stoppage time to navigate, Muric was far too casual in attempting to play out to Cajuste and Ipswich were punished.

A defeat of this nature was the last thing they needed ahead of a daunting run of fixtures. Between now and the start of February, Ipswich face Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Brighton, Manchester City and Liverpool.

Club reports

Ipswich report | Newcastle report

What the managers said

Kieran McKenna: "Difficult day for us, the opponent was strong and they of course scored the goal in the first seconds which makes it difficult. We had moments during the first half where we had the ball and managed to play through them but overall we weren't able to stop their attacking threats today. They had too much for us."

Eddie Howe: "Absolutely delighted with the players and what they've given this week, it's been a really big week for us. Getting through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup was one of our big aims and our league form needed to improve so brilliant to get back-to-back wins."

Next PL fixturesKey facts

Alexander Isak was just the second Swedish player to score a Premier League hat-trick, after Freddie Ljungberg for Arsenal at Sunderland in May 2003. It was the first treble by a Newcastle player in the competition since Ayoze Pérez against Southampton in April 2019.

Newcastle have won back-to-back Premier League games by a 4+ goal margin for just the third time, having previously done so in August 1994 and September 1998.

Ipswich Town are only the sixth side to fail to win each of their opening nine home games of a Premier League season (D4 L5), after Crystal Palace (1997-98), West Ham (2002-03), Sunderland (2005-06), Aston Villa (2015-16), and Brighton (2020-21).

Ipswich suffered their heaviest home defeat in any competition since April 2018 against Aston Villa in the Championship (also 0-4).