Newcastle United took another great leap towards securing a Champions League place on Wednesday when they won their game in hand against Crystal Palace 5-0.
It was man of the moment Jacob Murphy who got the ball rolling, lashing in to the net from a tight angle.
Nick Pope saved a penalty of his own making before Newcastle doubled their lead moments later, with Marc Guehi scoring for the Magpies for a second time this season.
Harvey Barnes kept his good form going with a confident finish and then Murphy was at the heart of matters again as his sensational cross was headed in by Fabian Schar.
Alexander Isak finally got in on the act after missing loads of chances to make it five, after which Newcastle took it easy.
Murphy was excellent throughout and Jamie Redknapp admits he’s been left floored by his form this season.
Jamie Redknapp has high praise for Jacob Murphy
Speaking on Sky Sports punditry duty before the match, Redknapp admitted he didn’t think it was even ‘possible’ for Murphy to register the goal contributions he is managing.
When asked if his improvement showed the value of good coaching, Redknapp replied: “Coaching, confidence, feeling loved. I think that’s what we need sometimes.
“When your boss turns around and says you’re my guy, you can really do it, you can make things happen.
“His goal involvements when you look at that, look at those numbers with the players that he’s associated with there – Salah, Isak, Jacob Murphy – if you’d have said that a few years ago, you’d have gone: ‘you are talking complete nonsense, there’s no way that’s possible.’
“But it just shows you what you can do if you can dedicate yourself, work hard, you’re playing with good players every single game.
“It’s testament to Eddie, to Jason Tindall and all the staff there because they’ve done an incredible job with him, because I personally didn’t see it.
“But it just shows you what you can do if you get a little bit of belief.”
Speaking at half-time about Murphy’s exploits in the game, Redknapp even muttered in disbelief that: “‘He’s prime [Kevin] De Bruyne, he is.”
Jacob Murphy climbs into the top 10 for Premier League goal contributions
Murphy’s fantastic season just isn’t
ending and his form will pose interesting questions for the club when it comes to the summer transfer market.
A younger, more exciting name might be desired but is it worth spending a lot of money on a winger when strengthening the position isn’t a huge priority?
All Murphy can do is keep on being decisive in the final third and that’s now eight Premier League goals for him this season. Along with 11 assists, that’s 19 goal contributions in total.
That takes him into the top 10 in the standings above Bruno Fernandes and Newcastle target Matheus Cunha. What a season.
