Football: Soccer-Isak brace leads Newcastle to crucial 4-0 win over Spurs

NEWCASTLE, England (Reuters) -A dominant Newcastle United struck twice within 95 seconds as Alexander Isak’s brace helped them secure a 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday, a vital result in their bid to qualify for European competition.

Newcastle, unbeaten at home since January, moved up to sixth place in the standings with 50 points from 32 matches, one ahead of Manchester United who have played a game less and visit Bournemouth later in the day. Spurs are fifth with 60 points.

Isak scored at the half-hour mark when Anthony Gordon got hold of a long ball, shook off Destiny Udogie and sent it through to the striker who entered the box, got around defender Micky van de Ven and found the net.

The hosts doubled their in less than two minutes when Gordon intercepted a back pass from Pedro Porro in the box, evaded Van de Ven and fired it at inside far post.

“I think especially here at St James’ with the crowd, if we can score back to back, quite close then it can feel like the stadium is suffocating you,” Gordon told TNT Sports.

“Trust me, I have been here as an away player and it definitely feels like that.”

Isak scored again six minutes into the second half when Bruno Guimaraes sent a long ball behind Spurs’ backine. The Sweden forward left the defenders behind with his sprint and beat the keeper with ease.

The Newcastle top scorer has now been on the scoresheet in six league home games in a row and has netted 12 goals in his last 12 matches at St James’ Park. He has scored 17 goals in the league this season, two less than leading scorer Erling Haaland.

“(The golden boot) isn’t really in my mind. My season has been a bit troubled with injury, so all I am thinking about is staying fit and getting momentum, which I have now,” Isak said.

“The way the manager set up the team in the game plan was excellent and we executed it in a good way as well.”

Fabian Schar scored Newcastle’s fourth goal in the 87th minute when he headed Gordon’s perfectly delivered corner kick into the net.

Newcastle continue their campaign at Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)