Newcastle United roared to third place in the Premier League - and closer to Champions League qualification - with a crushing victory over Crystal Palace at St James' Park.

Still without manager Eddie Howe, who continues to recover from pneumonia, the Magpies delivered a ruthless first-half display to race to a 4-0 lead and deal another blow to the Eagles' own hopes of playing in Europe next season.

Jacob Murphy set the tone for the big win with the 14th-minute opener as the winger's right-foot strike from a very tight angle squeezed past Dean Henderson at his near post.

Palace had a chance to level when Henderson's counterpart Nick Pope caught Chris Richards inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot after being referred to the pitchside monitor by the video assistant referee (VAR).

But the Newcastle goalkeeper redeemed himself with a comfortable save to stop Eberechi Eze's tame spot-kick.

It proved a costly miss as Newcastle doubled their lead in the 38th minute when Palace defender Marc Guehi, who also scored an own goal when these sides last met in November, turned a Harvey Barnes cross into his own net.

Barnes then claimed a goal for himself in first-half injury time - his fourth in three games - when he beat Maxence Lacroix with a brilliant step-over and then fired across Henderson.

The home fans were in full voice before the break as Murphy's cross in the eighth minute of added time was headed home by Fabian Schar to further extend the advantage.

Alexander Isak, who had only scored once in past six games, bagged his 25th goal of the season when Joelinton robbed possession from Lacroix and the Sweden striker planted a fine 25-yard finish into the bottom corner.

The success was Newcastle's biggest of the season and moved them two points clear of Nottingham Forest and four behind second-placed Arsenal with six games left.

The closest the visitors came to a consolation was when Daniel Munoz's header was blocked on the line by his team-mate Eddie Nketiah.

Oliver Glasner's side, who have conceded five goals for the second game running after a 5-2 loss at Manchester City, remain 12th in the table with 43 points.

Howe is expected to return to the dugout for the home game against Ipswich Town on 26 April, but in his absence, assistants Jason Tindall and Graeme Jones have stuck with the tried and tested to maintain the club's impressive run.

It was the sixth time Newcastle had named the same starting line-up and it brought them a sixth consecutive victory which moved them within four points of Arsenal, who they face in their penultimate game of the season.

The Magpies, who have already qualified for the Europa Conference League with their Carabao Cup victory, are five points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea and well placed to make it to Europe's elite club competition.

They visit seventh-placed Aston Villa on Saturday before games against Ipswich, Brighton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton, and remain on course for a top-three finish, especially with their front three in such fine fettle.

Howe would have been pleased that Isak, the club's top scorer with 21 league goals, was back on the scoresheet after a poor run by his own high standards.

The striker had looked to be having another off day, failing to net after he was brilliantly set up twice by Murphy inside the first 10 minutes.

Murphy then took things into his own hands with the crucial first goal. It was the 30-year-old's third goal in as many matches and he now has six goal involvements in four games.

Fellow forward Barnes, who is keeping Anthony Gordon on the bench, also remained a threat on the left wing as he forced England defender Guehi's own goal before scoring himself.

Palace, on the other hand, have only won once in four games but still have an outside chance of qualifying for European competition, with a five-point gap to eighth-placed Bournemouth.

But it will be worrying for boss Glasner that his side failed to improve defensively, despite the return of captain Guehi to the backline from a one-match suspension.

With an FA Cup semi-final against Villa on Saturday, 26 April, the Eagles will hope to fix their problems and regain their form to keep alive their hopes of winning the competition for the first time.