Soccer Football - Premier League - Ipswich Town v Newcastle United - Portman Road, Ipswich, Britain - December 21, 2024 Newcastle United's Alexander Isak celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Chris Radburn
IPSWICH, England (Reuters) -Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak bagged a hat-trick as his side thrashed Ipswich Town 4-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, with two of the goals arriving as early Christmas gifts from the hapless home defence.
Newcastle's Isak and Jacob Murphy tormented Ipswich in the opening 45 minutes to put their side 3-0 up at the break, and the hosts showed no signs of being able to stage any sort of a comeback as they slumped to their ninth defeat in 17 games.
The result saw Newcastle jump from 12th to seventh in the table on 26 points, while Ipswich continue to struggle as they remain in 18th place on 12 points, two behind Leicester City having played a game more.
Isak opened the scoring after 26 seconds as Murphy attacked down the right and drove the ball into the centre, where Sam Morsy’s attempted clearance fell to the Sweden striker to smash home, with the goal given after a lengthy VAR check.
Having tormented Ipswich from kick off, Murphy doubled the lead in the 32nd minute, receiving the ball from Anthony Gordon and taking a touch in the box before blazing his shot past Arijanet Muric, leaving the goalkeeper with no time to react.
An attempt to play out from the back in first-half stoppage time went disastrously wrong for Ipswich and the ball ended up at Isak’s feet for him to stroke home Newcastle's third.
The Swede completed his hat-trick nine minutes after the break by firing into the net after more good work by Murphy with a sublime back-heel to set him up.
The Magpies had a late Dan Burn goal ruled out for offside, but it made no difference as they got their festive season off to a perfect start thanks to Isak's first treble since arriving on Tyneside in August 2022.
"We've been playing so much better lately, and it has been showing in the results," a delighted Isak said. "It (the hat-trick) has been a long time coming for Newcastle, my first one here, I'm buzzing."
The 25-year-old has six goals in his last four league games.
"Just scoring goals will give confidence and help me and the team. It doesn't matter if it's one, two or three," Isak added. "He (Murphy) is really helpful, a team player. I am obviously happy for him that he gets rewarded with points too."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Toby Davis and Ken Ferris)
