ANOTHER day, another blistering illustration of Newcastle United’s goalscoring capabilities. Eddie Howe’s scintillating side have now scored 17 goals in their last five matches, a tally that is all the more remarkable given that in one of those games, against Aston Villa, they failed to find the target at all. When they are on song, this is a Magpies side that is pretty much impossible to contain.

That was certainly the case in the second half yesterday as Newcastle shrugged off a lacklustre first-half showing to blow Southampton away after the interval and further strengthen their grip on a Champions League place.

They remain in third position in the table with just five more games to play thanks to another goalscoring exhibition from Callum Wilson, who scored twice and had another effort ruled out after a lengthy VAR review after leaving the bench at half-time.

With Wilson leading the way in the second half, Newcastle blew Southampton away. Theo Walcott’s own goal enabled them to claim the lead after they had fallen behind to a goal from Stuart Armstrong in the first half, and with Alexander Isak, Joe Willock and Joelinton swarming all over the opposition, their final margin of victory might have been even more emphatic.

A place in the Champions League is within touching distance, an eventuality that was unthinkable at the start of the season, but that is now fully merited. Southampton mustered spirited resistance for the best part of an hour yesterday, only for Newcastle to cruise to victory once they flexed their attacking muscles. Howe’s side are riding the crest of a wave, and it shows no sign of breaking as the end of the season draws near.

They had to overcome some adversity yesterday, with their first-half display falling below the standards they have set this term. Anthony Gordon was presented with Newcastle’s best two chances of the first half, but the January signing was unable to convert either, flashing a seventh-minute shot into the side-netting before clipping the outside of the post after breaking onto Alexander Isak’s through ball. Both were decent opportunities - the second, in particular, should really have resulted in a goal – and his failure to take either was no doubt a major factor in Howe’s decision to replace him with Wilson. It proved an inspired change.

Gordon’s early approach play had also helped create an opportunity that came to nothing when Bruno Guimaraes smashed a first-time volley wide, but unlike in the previous home game against Tottenham, this was not on occasion where the Magpies were able to blow their opponents away without any meaningful resistance.

Southampton might be rooted to the foot of the table, but they are not down yet, and for all that their squad might lack quality, the Saints have not thrown in the towel.

Nick Pope was called into action in the very first minute to save a low shot from Kyle Walker-Peters, and the Newcastle goalkeeper was involved again halfway through the first half as he held on to a strike from Stuart Armstrong after Joelinton gave the ball away in a dangerous area of his own half.

That was a warning, but it was one that Newcastle did not heed. When Guimaraes was tackled by Romeo Lavia close to the halfway line four minutes before the break, the Brazilian’s inability to hold on to the ball sparked a Southampton counter-attack that resulted in the deadlock being broken.

The Saints worked the ball neatly to Kamaldeen Sulemana down the right, and when the Ghanaian slid a low cross into the middle, Armstrong outfoxed Kieran Trippier to turn the ball home.

Jolted by the surprise of seeing his side fall behind, Howe turned to Wilson, and within the space of nine second-half minutes, Newcastle’s number nine had dragged his side level.

The equaliser owed much to some slick interplay between Wilson and Isak – so much for Howe’s previous assertion that the pair could not really play together – with Dan Burn’s pass releasing the latter down the left.

Isak slid a low ball into the area, as he had at the end of his wonder run at Goodison Park on Thursday, and while Wilson had a fair bit more to do than Murphy had three days earlier, he beat Alex McCarthy with a clinical first-time strike.

Suddenly, Newcastle were well on top, playing with a drive and intensity that had not been apparent in the first half, and McCarthy got down well to keep Willock’s low strike after Guimaraes teed up his fellow midfielder.

Wilson thought he had scored his second goal with 16 minutes left, but while the striker was onside when Isak crossed the ball into the area, he had strayed into an offside position by the time it took the slightest of deflections off Miguel Almiron.

A lengthy VAR check came to Southampton’s rescue, but it was to prove a temporary reprieve. Five minutes later, and with the Saints’ goal coming under relentless pressure, Newcastle were able to celebrate a second goal that stood. Sven Botman got up at the front post to glance on Trippier’s corner, and Walcott stuck out a leg to deflect the ball into his own net.

As was the case in the recent games against West Ham, Tottenham and Everton, Newcastle were in no mood to take their foot off the pedal once they had established a position of superiority.

A third goal arrived in the 81st minute, and owed much to the pressure Willock asserted as Ashley Maitland-Niles tried to deal with a long ball over the top. The Saints defender lost possession,and after swooping onto the loose ball, Wilson swept home his 15th goal of the season.