Newcastle edged closer to Champions League qualification after beating Ipswich
Newcastle moved up to third with a 3-0 win at home against ten-man Ipswich Town, strengthening their chances of Champions League qualification.
As for Ipswich, they could only have tried to delay their fall to the Championship. The matter was decided long ago. As it happened, they didn’t have to bother. The denouement of the match came very quickly in the 37th minute when Ipswich defender Ben Johnson received a second yellow card, reducing the visitors to ten men.
Fighting the team third best in the Premier League as a relegation-bound side was one thing. Fighting them with ten men was just impossible. Newcastle capitalised on the advantage before the break, with Alexander Isak converting a penalty to put the Toons ahead.
It was a tale of one team in the second half. Dan Burn doubled the lead just 11 minutes in, and substitute William Osula netted his first Premier League goal to finish off the Tractor Boys late in the game. Not that it was needed.
“The challenge was just too big for us this season,” said Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna after the game. “Of course there’s things we would do differently now but it was a pretty big jump for us.
“The players have given everything and we’ve given it our best shot yet we’ve fallen short.”
The defeat marks what has been a historic low for this season’s promoted sides. It is the earliest point in Premier League history that all three relegations have been confirmed, with four matches still remaining.
There was something poetic about this match at the final whistle. While Ipswich are third from bottom, with Championship football to play next season, Newcastle climb to third at the top, their hopes of Champions League football firmly in their hands.
Present at the dugout to witness the Magpies’ victory was manager Eddie Howe, who has returned to the side after a brief period in hospital with pneumonia.
“My ability to shout has reduced, but I’m just pleased that I was able to lead the team and be back out where I love to be,” said Howe.
There will be push back from the other teams below them. With only two points separating Newcastle in third from Chelsea and Nottingham Forest in fifth and sixth, and four matches remaining, nothing is decided. But this routine win over a side that made it much too easy for them at least strengthens the Magpies’ bid for a Champions League spot.
