Joelinton at the double and Jacob Murphy on fire as Newcastle put seven past League Two Morecambe
Jacob Murphy’s man-of-the-match display not only helped his team secure their biggest victory in 21 years; it helped convince manager Steve Bruce that his short-term future remains with his club.
The 25-year-old winger had been expected to leave on loan during the current window, having enjoyed a similar spell with Sheffield Wednesday last season, until his efforts in helping his side book a fourth-round Carabao Cup trip to Newport on Wednesday night.
“I won’t be letting him out on loan, not after a performance like that,” said Bruce. “He deserves to stay with us, he’s improved enormously and I was very impressed with him, even though he didn’t make our squad at the weekend.”
Toumani Diagouraga did not help Morecambe when he was shown a straight red for a late foul on Sean Longstaff after 33 minutes but, by then, his side were already 4-0 behind with Joelinton having scored twice.
The brace took Joelinton’s Newcastle tally to six in the 13 months since he made his £40 million move although, in addition to two against Morecambe, others have come against Oxford and Rochdale, hardly stellar defences. Still, there was no denying the quality of the second finish here, just after the half-hour, when he collected Jamaal Lascelles’s header and curled in an unstoppable shot from 25 yards.
The Brazilian had opened the scoring after just four minutes, from Miguel Almiron’s pass and Joelinton also managed to miss an open net after Murphy’s effort struck a post.
Murphy played through Almiron after 20 minutes for the Paraguayan to round keeper Mark Halstead and Murphy himself showed devastating pace six minutes later to race away and finish from the edge of the area for 3-0. Isaac Hayden wrapped up the first-half scoring with a shot down the middle from 20 yards before defender Lascelles powered in a header from Matt Ritchie’s 51st-minute corner.
Ritchie’s 91st-minute back heel bounced in off defender Sam Lavelle to complete the Geordies’ biggest win since hammering Sheffield Wednesday 8-0 in Sir Bobby Robson’s first match in charge.
More relevantly, a win at Newport next week will carry Newcastle through to the quarter-finals. “I’ve said since I walked in the door here, let’s have a go at the cups,” said Bruce. “We got to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup last season and we’re capable of winning five or six games. So if the draw is kind to us, who knows?”
Match details
Morecambe (4-4-2): Halstead 4; Mellor 5, Lavelle 5, Davis 4, Hendrie 6; O’Sullivan 6, Diagouraga 5, Wildig 6, Slew 6 (Cooney 70); Mendes Gomes 5 (Phillips 35), Stockton 6 (McAlinden 57).
Substitutes: Da Silva Mendes (g), Knight-Percival, Kenyon, Pringle.
Sent off: Diagouraga.
Newcastle United (4-2-3- 1): Gillespie 6; Krafth 6, Lascelles 6, Clark 6 (Fraser h-t), Yedlin 7; Hayden 7 (Barlaser 61), Longstaff 7; Murphy 9, Almiron 8 (Carroll 61), Ritchie 7; Joelinton 8.
Substitutes: Darlow (g), Shelvey, Wilson, Hendrick.
Referee: Darren Drysdale (Lincolnshire).
