Cisse's brace propels Newcastle past West Brom
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.