Newcastle United smashed Tottenham Hotspur 6-1 at St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon to strengthen their hopes for a top-four finish in the Premier League.

The Magpies scored five goals in the first 21 minutes in an astonishing performance against a helpless Spurs side who were second best in every department.

Newcastle make a stunning start

Jacob Murphy gave the hosts the perfect start in the second minute when he followed up on a rebound from Joelinton’s effort that Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris could only parry.

Four minutes later it was 2-0 when Joelinton brought down a diagonal ball with a sublime first touch and rounded Lloris to find the net following awful defending from the Spurs back line.

It was all one-way traffic as Murphy made it 3-0 in the ninth minute when he launched a ferocious strike from 25 yards past Lloris to send the home supporters into a frenzy.

Ten minutes later, it was 4-0 when Alexander Isak found the net with a darting run following Joe Willock’s brilliant ball in behind the Spurs’ defense.

The hosts ran riot as they went 5-0 up in the 21st minute when Isak once again found the back of the net after some wonderful interplay by the Newcastle midfield.

Spurs humbled despite better second half

The Magpies could have led by seven or eight going into the break as Tottenham looked shell-shocked at what had hit them.

The score was 5-0 at halftime leaving Spurs leaving Cristian Stellini with a tough team talk at halftime.

Harry Kane grabbed a goal four minutes after the restart, finding the bottom right corner but it proved to be a mere consolation.

Substitute Callum Wilson scored with his first touch in the 67th minute to make it 6-1 to complete Spurs’ misery on a day to forget for the north London side.

The result means that Newcastle climb up to third with 59 points from 31 games and move into pole position to secure a top-four finish in their quest for Champions League football next season.

For Tottenham, the sorry state of affairs continues at the club as they remain fifth with 53 points from 32 games, and the result all but means, barring a slip-up from Newcastle or Manchester United, their top-four hopes are over.

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