There were moments when Roy Hodgson simply shook his head and others when he glanced, somewhat wistfully, at the electronic clock on the stadium scoreboard.
As his Crystal Palace players looked increasingly in peril of being submerged by the relentless waves of defence-shredding, high-intensity Newcastle attacks, Hodgson must have longed to fast forward the agonising minutes remaining until the final whistle. “It didn’t work out today,” he said wryly. “We lacked control, we were nowhere near Newcastle’s level.”
Eddie Howe could not have wished for a more confidence-affirming warm-up for Wednesday’s Champions League engagement with Borussia Dortmund here. “We were very good,” he said. “Really incisive and clinical.”
Only four minutes had elapsed when Fabian Schär’s lofted ball out of defence was met by Kieran Trippier and passed on, sublimely, to Jacob Murphy. Within a millisecond Sam Johnstone was beaten by Murphy’s audacious lob but, before anyone had time to debate whether it had been sheer genius or a slight fluke, it was disallowed for an offside against Trippier. The England full-back shook his head in puzzlement and, sure enough, a VAR review prompted the overturning of the decision, leaving Murphy to lead the celebrations.
With Newcastle firmly in control and the outstanding Trippier setting such formidably high standards it seemed impossible to believe he cost £12m, the ground echoed with choruses of “Sandro Tonali”. The £55m Italy midfielder, who is being investigated for alleged breaches of betting regulations in his home country, began on the bench.
Given that his agent says his client has a “gambling addiction” it jarred somewhat when, as Tonali warmed up, both the electronic pitchside hoardings and the big screen projected vivid, flashing, advertisements for one of the three betting companies that rank among Newcastle’s sponsors.
By then they could easily have been further ahead but Johnstone saved well to deny Murphy before performing a minor miracle to push Anthony Gordon’s high velocity volley on to the woodwork.
Undeterred, Gordon soon scored, lashing home first time at the far post after surging into the area and meeting Murphy’s fine cross at the end of a move featuring Schär and Callum Wilson.
A third goal arrived before half-time. Palace’s stumbling centre-half Marc Guéhi made heavy weather of a long ball, allowing Sean Longstaff to seize possession before beating Johnstone.
Along with Gordon, Bruno Guimarães, Murphy and Trippier, Longstaff was one of Newcastle’s highest-calibre performers in the sort of brutally ruthless overall display capable of making Hodgson question the wisdom of emerging from retirement. Not to mention thoroughly alarming Dortmund scouts.
With Jamaal Lascelles winning his physical duel with Jean-Philippe Mateta, Schär was frequently free to advance from defence and remind everyone what an accomplished footballer he is. If Sven Botman’s absence with a knee injury remains concerning, it has been mitigated by an apparently reinvented Lascelles returning to the heart of Newcastle’s backline.
It spoke volumes that Palace’s first shot on target came in the 65th minute. Seconds after Nick Pope had been forced to dive low to deny Cheick Doucouré, Murphy’s through pass left the rapidly accelerating Wilson to complete the task of placing the ball beyond Johnstone’s reach.
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That prefaced a quadruple home substitution, with Tonali receiving a rapturous reception as he replaced Guimarães.
At the end of an afternoon that suggested Newcastle should cope just fine without their marquee summer signing, Howe and his assistant, Jason Tindall, flanked a tearful Tonali as they led the team on a well-received lap of appreciation.
“I’d like to say a big thank you to our supporters for their reaction on a very emotional day for Sandro,” Howe said. “You felt their love for him.”
