AND to think this was Newcastle without Botman, Burn, Willock, Longstaff, Tonali and Wilson.

The starting XI was somewhat makeshift and the bench was packed with kids and goalkeepers but Newcastle were United and thumped Chelsea’s expensively assembled team of individuals.

Given the circumstances, this will surely go down as one of Eddie Howe’s most satisfying victories. The game was finely poised at half-time after Raheem Sterling had cancelled out Alexander Isak’s opener, but Newcastle were outstanding after the break, with Jamaal Lascelles, Joelinton and Anthony Gordon all on target. For sorry Chelsea, Reece James was sent off.

For the Magpies, this was the perfect way to start a decisive spell and will send Howe’s depleted squad to Paris with renewed belief. And it was the perfect way for Lewis Miley to mark his first Premier League start at St James' Park.

Two o’clock brought good news and bad. While Newcastle welcomed Isak back into the team, there was yet another fresh concern to deal with, with Joe Willock suffering an achilles injury in training on Friday. With Sean Longstaff also missing with an ankle problem, Miley continued in midfield.

With so many players unavailable, Newcastle’s bench contained three goalkeepers and four youngsters aged 20 and under with just one first team appearance between them.

But the youngest player in either squad was Miley and yet it was the 17-year-old – making only his second Premier League start - who provided the moment of magic that gave Newcastle an early lead, a composed and clever reverse pass into the path of Isak, who marked his return to the side with his seventh league goal of the season.

Chelsea’s task – against a Newcastle team looking for their fifth successive home clean sheet – was a daunting one, but the Magpies gave the Blues a leg-up as Mauricio Pochettino’s side hit back within 10 minutes.

Lascelles’ sloppy misplaced pass in the centre-circle proved costly. The captain’s mistake was pounced upon by Sterling, who charged towards the home box before being brought to the turf by Kieran Trippier. Howe and Jason Tindall thought it was a soft foul and made their feelings known to the fourth official Jeremy Simpson. Their frustrations deepened moments later as Sterling lifted himself off the deck to lift his free-kick over the wall and into the net of Nick Pope, who couldn’t celebrate his 50th Newcastle appearance with a clean sheet.

Both sides had their moments in the 10 minutes that followed. Joelinton somehow missed the target with a close-range header from a Trippier corner from the left, before Pope saved well to deny first Enzo Fernandez and then Marc Cucurella from the resulting corner.

Trippier very nearly matched Sterling with a stunning free-kick of his own. The full-back’s curling effort in the dying stages of the first half looked to be destined for the top corner but crashed off the top of the bar.

As the players made their way off the pitch at half-time, furious Trippier was still protesting the foul that led to Chelsea’s opener. It was a foul from Lascelles just 15 seconds into the second half that presented the visitors with another free-kick opportunity, but this time it was James rather than Sterling who took it, and fired over. And it was one way traffic from that moment on.

United were superb and their full throttle start to the second half resulted in the quickfire double on the hour mark. Lascelles turned in Gordon’s cross with a powering header to put the Magpies back in front and just seconds later the home side were in complete control. From the kick-off, Thiago was dispossessed by Joelinton, who slotted beyond Robert Sanchez.

Chelsea’s miserable second half went from bad to worse when captain Reece James received his second yellow card and was sent off for a foul on Gordon – before the in-form forward capped off a fine afternoon for the hosts with his fifth goal of the season seven minutes from time.