Alexander Isak, Dan Burn, and William Osula found the net as Newcastle United cruised to a 3-0 win over Ipswich Town, sealing the visitors’ immediate return to the Championship.
Ipswich Town’s relegation from the Premier League was officially confirmed following their heavy defeat at St. James’ Park, where 10-man Ipswich struggled against a dominant Newcastle side that moved up to third place on Saturday.
Ben Johnson made life even harder for the Tractor Boys, receiving two yellow cards in the first half, the first caution coming for simulation after he appeared to dive over Dan Burn’s extended leg.
Before Johnson’s dismissal in the 37th minute, Ipswich had managed to limit Newcastle mostly to speculative efforts, with Sandro Tonali hitting the crossbar from long range.
However, the red card swung the momentum firmly in Newcastle’s favor.
The hosts pinned Ipswich deep inside their own half and were awarded a penalty deep into first-half stoppage time after a VAR check determined Julio Enciso had pulled Jacob Murphy.
Alexander Isak, who had already squandered two good opportunities, made no mistake this time, calmly side-footing past Alex Palmer to break the deadlock.
Newcastle doubled their advantage 11 minutes after the restart, with Burn heading in Kieran Trippier’s lofted cross at the far post, while Ipswich were left camped inside their own area.
A third goal arrived 10 minutes from the end when substitute William Osula nodded in Trippier’s corner, marking his first-ever goal in the Premier League.
The defeat means Ipswich can no longer catch 17th-placed West Ham, who despite losing 3-2 at Brighton on Saturday, still sit 15 points ahead of Kieran McKenna’s team.
Earlier in the day, Newcastle had dropped out of the top five after Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Everton.
However, this result saw them reclaim a spot in the Champions League qualification places, though they remain just two points clear of sixth-placed Nottingham Forest, who still have a game in hand.
Remarkably, for the first time in Premier League history, all relegation spots have been confirmed with four games still left to play.
Ipswich’s downfall also confirmed that for a second consecutive season, all three promoted clubs were relegated straight back down, a rare occurrence that had previously only happened once before, in the 1997-98 season.
