EDDIE HOWE’s managerial midas touch was to the fore as Newcastle United established a three-point cushion in the race for a Champions League spot.

Howe recalled Callum Wilson and Joelinton to his starting line-up at West Ham, and the pair responded by scoring a goal apiece within the opening 13 minutes as the Magpies cut loose at the London Stadium.

Kurt Zouma’s header at the end of the first half threatened to make the evening more difficult, but Wilson stroked home his second goal of the night in the first minute of the second half with Joelinton also doubling his personal tally in stoppage time. In between times, Alexander Isak added a goal of his own to enable the visitors to equal their biggest win of the season.

The victory means they remain level on points with Manchester United, who beat Brentford, and are now three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham, with a game in hand. With every week that passes, the return of European football gets that little bit closer.

Last night’s success was set up inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour, although the night could have been very different had the Magpies not benefited from the width of a lick of paint inside the opening 40 seconds.

West Ham attacked straight from the kick-off, with Jarrod Bowen bursting on the outside of Dan Burn. Bowen cut the ball back into the middle, and a sliding Bruno Guimaraes prodded it against the right-hand upright with Nick Pope beaten. Had the ball ended up in the net, Newcastle’s task would have been considerably more difficult.

As it was, West Ham’s defensive frailties quickly played into the Magpies’ hands. Wilson boasts a remarkable scoring record against the Hammers – last night’s double made it 12 in 13 matches against them for Newcastle and Bournemouth – but his task is made significantly easier when no one bothers to mark him on the edge of the six-yard box.

Allan Saint-Maximin picked out the number nine after he kept Kieran Trippier’s corner alive at the back of the penalty area, and Wilson cannot have believed his luck as he found himself in a huge pocket of space six yards out. His header flew past Lukasz Fabianski.

Fabianski was beaten for a second time seven minutes later, and again, West Ham’s horrendous defending proved their undoing.

No one went with Joelinton as he raced on to Fabian Schar’s long ball, although the Brazilian looked offside as he rounded Fabianski to score and the assistant’s flag was duly raised. A VAR check followed though, and it quickly became apparent that Emerson was standing the best part of a yard behind his team-mates in West Ham’s left-back position and therefore playing Joelinton onside. To the delight of the sold-out away end, the goal was awarded.

Understandably, the VAR decision rocked an already shell-shocked West Ham, although Newcastle had to produce two moments of defensive excellence to keep their opponents at bay. First, Pope got down superbly to tip Lucas Paqueta’s free-kick around the post; then, Sven Botman produced a perfectly-timed sliding challenge to prevent Michail Antonio from getting a shot away in the 18-yard box.

West Ham were gaining momentum, though, and they pulled a goal back five minutes before the break. Pope left his line to try to get to Bowen’s corner, but the ball sailed over his head, enabling Zouma to head home.

However, any hopes of a sustained Hammers comeback were extinguished when yet another defensive aberration enabled Newcastle to score a third less than 60 seconds after the break.

Nayef Aguerd should have dealt with Fabianski’s short pass, but the centre-half miscontrolled spectacularly, enabling Jacob Murphy to seize possession. He rolled a square ball across the face of the area, and Wilson was left with the simple task of slotting home.

Isak left the bench to add a goal of his own as he lobbed into an empty net after Fabianski presented him with the ball outside the area, and Joelinton completed the scoring as he fired into the bottom corner in stoppage time.