Newcastle United have moved up to seventh place in the table following an impressive 4-0 win against Ipswich Town at Portman Road.

Alexander Isak got the ball rolling for Newcastle inside a minute before Jacob Murphy lashed in the visitors' second just after the half-hour mark. Isak grabbed another in first-half injury time, following a mix-up at the back, and the Sweden international scored his first hat-trick for the club after the break following great work by Murphy.

Here are five things we learned from the game.

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Newcastle do Sir Bobby Robson's legacy proud

As two of Sir Bobby Robson's former clubs faced off in the Premier League for the first time since 2002, Newcastle wanted to do their former manager's 'legacy proud'. It did not take the visitors long to do so.

There were just 26 seconds on the clock when Fabian Schar's searching ball sent Jacob Murphy racing down the right channel. Murphy's cross was only half-cleared by Sam Morsy as far as Alexander Isak, who volleyed the ball into the ground and Arijanet Muric could not keep it out despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to it.

It would be nearly another three minutes before the goal was officially awarded, following a lengthy VAR check, but you suspect it was worth the wait for those bouncing Geordies in the away end, who were quickly rewarded after embarking on their longest trip of the season.

Their afternoon would get even better. Jacob Murphy doubled Newcastle's lead in the 32nd minute, Isak made it 3-0 before the break after Ipswich got themselves into a tangle at the back and the Sweden international scored his first hat-trick for the club in the second half following great work from Murphy inside the box.

To think this side once struggled to have a shot on target - let alone find the back of the net. Rampant Newcastle have now scored 16 goals in their last five games in all competitions.

Jacob Murphy steps up again

Forty-six days. That's how long Jacob Murphy waited to get back into the team after a spell on the sidelines. It is hard to imagine the winger coming out of the side any time soon in this sort of form.

After impressing on his return to the starting XI against Liverpool, Murphy has since scored three goals and set up three more in just three games. Not only did Murphy have a big hand in Newcastle's opener against Ipswich on Saturday - the 29-year-old rifled in the visitors' crucial second goal with a fine finish from inside the area before later setting up Newcastle's fourth with a jaw-dropping back-heel assist for Isak.

Newcastle will still need to sign a right-sided forward in 2025 - it is the one position that has not been upgraded since the takeover - but Murphy looks like a player full of confidence right now as he hits his peak years. This is, arguably, the most threatening Murphy has looked in a Newcastle shirt since his £12m move in 2017.

Hungry mentality is back

There had been a familiar theme to the opening months of the campaign. Newcastle produced some of their best displays of the season against the big hitters - defeating Arsenal and Chelsea and drawing against Liverpool and Manchester City - but Eddie Howe's team had not always delivered in games they were expected to win. Well, that has changed in the last week following comfortable victories against Leicester City, Brentford and Ipswich.

Ipswich may have had a clear week to prepare for this fixture, but Newcastle did not look like a leggy side who had fielded the same 10 starters in three games in the space of a week (Joe Willock came in for the suspended Joelinton at Portman Road). Dan Burn spoke ahead of this match about how true contenders 'always have the exact same mentality when they attack games' - and Newcastle certainly went for the throat on Saturday. It said it all that the hungry visitors ran 1.2km more in the first half as they chased and pressed Ipswich despite having more possession.

Even at 2-0, Newcastle were not satisfied and Bruno Guimaraes read Arijanet Muric's mind deep in first-half stoppage time after the goalkeeper attempted to play out from the back and find Jens Cajuste inside Ipswich's box. Bruno harried Cajuste and knocked the ball into the path of Isak, who tapped home. It was an early Christmas present from Ipswich, but the opening only came about because of the intensity with which Newcastle pressed.

Defensive resilience rediscovered

Newcastle's task was made a little easier after Liam Delap was suspended for this game. The promising striker, after all, has scored 40% of Ipswich's goals in the Premier League this season.

However, Newcastle still had to hold firm in key moments after opening the scoring. The impressive Sandro Tonali snuffed out a host of counter-attacks in the first half; Lewis Hall took a blow to the head after bravely stopping Conor Chaplin from connecting with a dangerous cross; and Sammie Szmodics was denied by Martin Dubravka, who rushed off his line, after Chaplin slipped his team-mate in. It was as close as Ipswich came all game.

Newcastle were desperate to protect their goal and, even at 3-0, Dan Burn recovered to block Ali Al-Hamadi's shot after the Ipswich striker was played in.

Newcastle have now kept two clean sheets in their last three games - conceding just a measly goal in the process - and the black-and-whites have limited the opposition to six shots on target in that time. For context, Newcastle let in eight goals in their previous three matches, but Howe's team now have a solid base to build from going into huge clashes against Aston Villa and Manchester United.

Christmas nightmare banished as Goodman proved wrong

We were about to find out if Newcastle really had turned a corner. It is one thing beating Leicester City and Brentford at home - but a 286-mile trek to Ipswich? That's a different matter entirely for a Newcastle side who had previously won just one game on the road in the last three months.

Ipswich may not have claimed a victory at Portman Road this season, but the newly-promoted Tractor Boys were no mugs. Ipswich had already defeated Spurs and drawn with Manchester United, and Kieran McKenna's spirited side had only lost games by a one-goal margin in the last couple of months.

McKenna was as sure as he could be that his players were 'going to give absolutely everything' against Newcastle while defender Dara O'Shea did not think sides like the Magpies would 'enjoy coming up against us'. Pundit Don Goodman had even suggested it 'won't be easy' for Newcastle having backed Ipswich to get a point.

There were parallels with a trip to newly-promoted Luton Town in Newcastle's final game before last Christmas. That was an afternoon when Dan Burn lamented how the visitors were 'outfought and outworked'. This time, however, Newcastle's class told and the black-and-whites were so dominant that Eddie Howe even had the luxury of substituting Tino Livramento, Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock, Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak long before full-time.