Ipswich Town 0 Newcastle United 4 | OneFootball

The 25-year-old's treble - the first by a Magpies player since Ayoze Pérez struck three times against Southampton in April 2019 - helped move his side up to seventh in the Premier League table after a fine display at Portman Road, in which the hosts couldn't live with the free-flowing United.

Isak fired home inside the first minute to give the Magpies the lead, before Jacob Murphy's superb second gave Eddie Howe's men breathing space.

United were handed a third just before the break, with Isak rolling home again after profiting from some defensive hesitancy, before Murphy's neat assist allowed him to complete his hat-trick by stabbing home nine minutes after the restart to cap an excellent festive away day for the Magpies.

The visitors made a rapid start, finding the net with just 25 seconds on the clock. Murphy latched on to a long ball from Fabian Schär and his cross looked to be heading for Joe Willock before Sam Morsy's interception. The Tractor Boys' skipper couldn't clear it properly, though, and Isak connected well with the loose ball on the half-volley, sending it into the ground and up into the roof of the net. It took a lengthy VAR check for the goal to be allowed, with Murphy adjudged to have been onside - a decision met with an eruption of joy in the away end.

This was about as comfortable a half as United could have wished for. Sandro Tonali whistled a drive just wide and Anthony Gordon cleared the crossbar with a header that bounced up off the turf, but with just over half an hour gone they had a second. It came from Murphy, following a team move involving Tonali, Willock, Isak and Gordon, and the end result was a terrific thumping drive from the Magpies wideman, whose shot beat Arijanet Muric and flew in via the crossbar.

The hosts had posed little threat to the Newcastle backline but their own ponderous play, combined with some renewed intensity from Howe's men, led to them gifting the visitors a third in first half stoppage time. Dara O'Shea's ball back to goalkeeper Muric caused no problems but the stopper's short pass to Jens Cajuste created a big one; the Swede was robbed of possession by Bruno Guimarães just ten yards out, and the ball fell for Isak. With typical coolness, the frontman waited for Muric to dive before popping home his second of the afternoon from relatively close range to round off a perfect half from United.

Isak by now had his sights trained on securing a first hat-trick in black and white, but Ipswich came out for the second half with a bit more intent and it took some decent defending from Lewis Hall and Dan Burn to stop substitute Ali Al-Hamadi's shot from reaching the target. On the break, it was so nearly four for Howe's men when Guimarães' header came back off the post after Hall had picked him out in the box.

But with 54 minutes gone, Newcastle did find a fourth, and it was Isak who scored it. Murphy did brilliantly to get into the box and evade a number of challenges before backheeling it into the Sweden forward's path. He did well to sort his feet out and prod home his third of the day, earning him the matchball and ending the club's half-decade wait for a hat-trick hero.

Willock could have made it five, blazing over when well placed, while substitute Harvey Barnes also fired over after a corner fell kindly for him and Nathan Broadhead tested the otherwise unworked Martin Dúbravka at the other end.

And Lewis Miley was introduced in the closing stages for his first appearance since March, in what was another plus point on a day full of them for the Magpies, who almost bagged a fifth in the dying moments as Dan Burn turned home, only for it to be ruled out for offside.

But this was about as emphatic a victory as Howe could have hoped for as his side gear up for a busy post-Christmas fixture schedule - which begins with Aston Villa's visit to St. James' Park on Boxing Day.