West Bromwich, England – Newcastle stormed out to an early lead and never looked back as the Magpies secured a 3-1 win over West Bromwich at The Hawthorns on Sunday.
Papiss Cisse scored two goals and Hatem Ben Arfa tallied one in between to hand the visitors a 3-0 lead in the opening 34 minutes before the Baggies pulled a goal back through Shane Long early in the second half.
Newcastle joins Chelsea in fifth place with the win and sits five points back of fourth-place Tottenham. West Brom has collected one point from its last three games following a three-match winning streak.
It didn't take long for Newcastle to take charge of the match and the club went ahead inside of six minutes when Ben Arfa's low cross handed Cisse a simple finish from close range.
The two combined again six minutes later on the second goal with Cisse playing a pass to Ben Arfa, who cut into the area and beat goalkeeper Ben Foster with a left-footed shot.
West Brom had no answers in defense and saw its deficit reach 3-0 when Ben Arfa got to the end line and pulled the ball back to the penalty spot for Cisse to finish with a first-time effort.
Long's goal came after a mix up between goalkeeper Tim Krul and a Newcastle defender, leaving the West Brom striker to roll the ball into the empty net.
But Newcastle's lead was never seriously threatened and the club is now in a good position to claim a European place for next season.
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