Newcastle United have moved up to fourth place in the table following a 3-0 win against Wolves at St James' Park.

Alexander Isak opened the scoring with a deflected effort in the 34th minute and the in-form Newcastle striker doubled his side's advantage from close range after the break. Isak then turned provider to set up Anthony Gordon for Newcastle's third late on.

Here are five things we learned from the game.

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Alexander Isak makes history

Was it going to be one of those nights for Newcastle? That may seem a strange question to ask, in hindsight, but in the opening half-an-hour, alone, Jacob Murphy had a couple of shots pushed away by Jose Sa; Emmanuel Agbadou made a last-ditch tackle to deny Anthony Gordon after the England international had been played through; and, even, Alexander Isak fired just wide.

However, rather than getting frustrated, Newcastle kept pushing and Isak soon found a way through. There were 34 minutes on the clock when Isak picked up the ball out on the left-hand side and drifted inside. Isak's attempted pass was cut out by Joao Gomes, but the ball came back to the lethal Sweden star, who let fly from the edge of the area and wrongfooted Jose Sa courtesy of a wicked deflection.

Isak has scored more eye-catching goals in recent weeks, but this scruffy effort was every bit as important. Isak, in the process, became the first Newcastle player to score in eight successive Premier League games and just the fourth in Premier League history to do so.

Yet Isak was not content with just the one. The 25-year-old doubled Newcastle's lead in the second half before setting up the Magpies' third. No wonder he was given a standing ovation.

Another test passed as Chelsea hunted down

After favourable results elsewhere on Tuesday night, Newcastle had the chance to leapfrog Chelsea into fourth place. For context, Newcastle were 11 points behind the Blues a month ago.

Could Newcastle take advantage? It felt like another timely test of this side's credentials. You could not help but cast your mind back to the visit of another relegation-threatened side, West Ham, in November. That was a night Newcastle had the chance to move within a point of Arsenal. The Magpies did not take it and suffered a bruising 2-0 defeat.

Unlike that night, though, Newcastle are on a roll following nine wins on the bounce and the black-and-whites, crucially, found a way to get in front against a dogged Wolves side. That first goal was always going to be important. Newcastle are unbeaten when scoring first in the top-flight for a reason - winning eight of 10 matches and drawing the other two.

Forget settling for 1-0

Newcastle did not settle for one. Having seen Jorgen Strand Larsen hit the post and Goncalo Guedes fire wide from close range in the first half, the Magpies knew they needed a second and Isak stepped up once again in the 57th minute after ghosting in between two Wolves defenders and sweeping home following Bruno Guimaraes' superb through ball.

Newcastle were not finished yet, however. This time, Isak turned provider in the 74th minute. Isak's initial cross was blocked by the sliding Matt Doherty but the striker came again and played the ball across the box to Gordon, whose first-time finish left Jose Sa with no chance.

There was no way back for Wolves - Santiago Bueno later had a goal disallowed for handball - and Newcastle were so comfortable that Howe had the luxury of taking off Isak, Gordon, Jacob Murphy, Joelinton and Tino Livramento long before full-time with the visit of Bournemouth to come on Saturday.

Geordies are dreaming

Having proved their mettle on the road - defeating Manchester United, Spurs and Arsenal in the space of eight days - how would Newcastle fare in the Magpies' first home league game of 2025? To say Newcastle were favourites would be an understatement. Wolves had only won two of their previous 16 away league games. The visitors had failed to keep a clean sheet in all nine of their Premier League matches at St James' Park. Wolves had lost on each of their past three visits.

However, this was never going to be a walkover. Eddie Howe called it a 'dangerous game' and warned that 'the psychology of the team had to be right'. Kieran Trippier wrote about 'respecting your opponent' and 'keeping our feet on the ground' in his programme notes.

Players and staff are certainly keeping their feet on the ground - that ability to take a game at a time also served Newcastle well when the Magpies qualified for the Champions League a couple of seasons ago - but Geordies are rightly daring to dream. "Is this the way to Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Lazio and Roma?" the Gallowgate boomed in the second half. "Geordie boys are taking over. Champions League awaits for me!"

Wolves bench lash out

Eddie Howe was spared an almighty selection dilemma but even if the ill Fabian Schar had been fit to play, it was hard to imagine Dan Burn making way to accommodate Sven Botman in the side. Burn after all, has been a leading contender to be Newcastle's player of the season so far.

Geordies were chanting 'He's from Blyth!' midway the first half after the towering defender raced back to cut out a Wolves counter-attack and got in a tangle with Goncalo Guedes. Referee Darren England did not give a free-kick, which left Wolves players and staff furious. Not only was captain Matt Doherty booked - so, too, was Wolves assistant Luis Miguel for his wild reaction.