Newcastle 5-0 Crystal Palace: Five-star Magpies go third as they make huge statement in Champions League race with thumping victory in absence of Eddie Howe

Whatever treatment Eddie Howe has been prescribed in hospital, nothing will have been more palatable – or welcome – than this glorious statement of intent.

Newcastle United’s head coach should rest safe in the knowledge that the team he has temporarily left behind are bounding relentlessly and remorselessly towards the Champions League. Yes, there may be six games still to play but the momentum behind this squad is irresistible.

Crystal Palace have played well of late. Up until Saturday in Manchester, they had been resolute and determined but here a black-and-white fog rolled devastatingly off the Tyne and choked them; no wonder Oliver Glasner, their manager, spent much of the night with his hands clamped over his eyes.

If Glasner couldn’t watch, the vast majority of those within St James’s Park were bewitched. Winning the Carabao Cup has been like unlocking a super boost button on a computer game, with Newcastle running faster, tackling harder and trampling over everything on their way to the next level.

This was the fourth win in four games since the nirvana of Wembley and, heavens, it was the most emphatic. By the last whistle, Newcastle had put *** past Palace, whose dreadful night was compounded by one of the worst missed penalties, from Eberechi Eze, you are likely to see.

They picked up where they had finished Sunday’s battering of Manchester United, cylinders at full throttle and fans on the edge of their seats, arriving at this magnificent stadium expecting to see attractive, winning football. It’s a wonderful situation, one that should never be taken for granted.

Assistant manager Jason Tindall took charge while Eddie Howe was absent with pneumonia

Wednesday’s victory extended the Magpies’ winning streak to six games in all competitions

Intent was served within 25 seconds when Murphy galloped away and crossed but his ball was fractionally too high for Joelinton and too far ahead of Aleksander Isak. No matter. The first jab of the contest was unsettling and disorientating and Palace would never recover.

Murphy, one of those dependable performers every squad needs, would create two more chances that were squandered so he took matters into his own hands shortly after and lit the fuse with a humdinger that fizzed past Dean Henderson like a bouncer in the opening over of an Ashes Test.

So in control were the hosts, it came as huge shock when Palace were awarded a penalty after Nick Pope had collided with Palace defender Chris Richards. Craig Pawson, the VAR, recommended Darren England go to his monitor but it shouldn’t have needed a two-minute pause to make the decision.

It wasn’t clear, it wasn’t obvious but Pope made amends as Eze, perhaps unnerved by the noise from the Leazes End struck his kick so feebly, you wondered if it would have the speed to reach the goal line. From that moment, Palace were dead and buried.

Sensing the opportunity to run amok, Newcastle did just that. A rapid counterattack in the 36th minute ended with Marc Guehi, who could have been playing in black and white had Howe got his wish last summer, turning Harvey Barnes’s cross into his own goal.

Barnes, so blistering on Sunday, scored the third when hurtling onto a joyous pass from Sandro Tonali – what a good footballer he is – and then in the seventh minute of time added-on Fabian Schar glanced a Murphy free-kick beyond Henderson.

No wonder Jason Tindall, supervising things in Howe’s absence, turned to the stands and celebrated with the abandon of a man who had just found a winning lottery ticket but there was still time for more in the second half, as Isak got in on the act with a thumping finish.

Was it disappointing that the scoring stopped there? Possibly. Perhaps they are saving them for Saturday when Aston Villa come to town. In this mood, Newcastle having nothing – and nobody – to fear. The ticket to enter the promised land is there for them to grasp.