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Eddie Howe has saluted unsung hero Jacob Murphy after watching him inspire Newcastle to Premier League victory over Crystal Palace. Murphy, a £12million signing from Norwich in July 2017, has been a peripheral character for much of his time at St James’ Park to date and was sent out on loan to West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday before Howe’s appointment as head coach in November 2021. However, it was the 28-year-old that the manager turned to for the club’s first Champions League fixture in 20 years at AC Milan last month, and he was asked to fill the injured Harvey Barnes’ boots against Palace, responding with the opening goal and setting up two of the three which followed in a 4-0 win. Asked about the contribution of a man whose future at one point looked to lie away from St James’ Park, Howe said: “He’s someone who is the ultimate professional. He’s reliable, plays multiple positions and has never let me down. “For me, it’s all about consistency. What you’re looking for from the players’ perspective is that they turn up every day and give their best. “Now, you’re going to have some good days and you’re going to have some bad days. I always say that the key response is how you handle the bad days. “Before I came here, Jacob had some difficult moments, but you have to keep coming back. “You have to be really resilient, you have to keep turning up, and I believe that if you do the right things off the pitch, then eventually you’ll show the right things on the pitch. After the PSG win, we want to continue our momentum and see where it takes us Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe “For me, he’s just been that model of consistency in his approach and attitude. “It’s great to see someone who puts that work in rewarded with an opportunity, and then it’s all about taking that opportunity. He’s done that, and it’s great to see.” Murphy’s fourth-minute opener, a lob towards Callum Wilson which looped over keeper Sam Johnstone and crept inside the far post, set the Magpies on their way, but it was two goals inside three minutes at the end of the first half which put them out of sight as Anthony Gordon, from Murphy’s cross, and Sean Longstaff found the back of the net. Callum Wilson completed the scoring 24 minutes from time with the former Canaries winger again supplying the assist to send Newcastle, who used midfielder Sandro Tonali as a second-half substitute as he awaits the outcome of a betting investigation, into Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund on Tyneside confident they can build upon their 4-1 demolition of Paris St Germain. Howe said: “After the PSG win, we want to continue our momentum and see where it takes us.” Opposite number Roy Hodgson left the north-east in sombre mood after a day to forget. Hodgson said: “We were unfortunate with the first goal, of course, that didn’t help, that freak goal. “If we’d have scored it, I’d have be delighted, but it’s a tough goal to have against you after a few minutes because that’s not one that really has come about because you’ve got it totally wrong defensively.” Read More Erik ten Hag says Harry Maguire ‘playing like we want him to’ Ange Postecoglou praises ‘professional’ Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg David Beckham leads tributes to ‘national hero’ Sir Bobby Charlton Collin Morikawa returns to winning ways with six-shot victory in Japan Tributes paid to ‘giant of the game’ Sir Bobby Charlton after his death at 86 On This Day in 2010 – Wayne Rooney makes shock U-turn after Man Utd quit threat

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Ange Postecoglou was pleased Premier League leaders Tottenham Hotspur passed their latest exam with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Crystal Palace and was in no mood to stop fans dreaming of a title challenge. Spurs moved five points clear at the summit after they recovered from a sluggish first half at Selhurst Park to score twice in 13 second-half minutes. An own-goal from Joel Ward broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute when he deflected James Maddison’s cross beyond Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and it was 2-0 soon after when Tottenham captain Son Heung-min steered home after Brennan Johnson’s assist. Jordan Ayew reduced the deficit for Palace in the fourth minute of stoppage-time, but Spurs held on to extend their unbeaten top-flight run to 10 matches and move five clear of Manchester City and Arsenal, who play Manchester United and Sheffield United respectively across the weekend. “Let them dream. That’s what being a football supporter is all about. It’s fair to say this lot have suffered a fair bit, so I’m certainly not going to dampen that,” Postecoglou said. “Top of the table is great and the results are great but it’s more in the manner we’re doing it. Pretty much from the first game we’ve had all sorts of different challenges we’ve had to overcome. “Every time there has been a real focus and clear-headedness about the group collectively to deal with that. We prep them for their exam at the weekend, but we don't know what the questions are going to be. They've got to work them out themselves Ange Postecoglou “That has been a really pleasing thing and because they’re getting rewards from that, then that gives us the opportunity to accelerate the growth of giving them more tools out there to help them for whatever we need to overcome. “I thought tonight was going to be a real difficult game for us. Coming here, Palace’s result last week, it’s a tight ground, they’d only conceded three goals in the four games so far and how were the lads going to cope with the fact we weren’t going to create as many chances as we had been? “I really liked the way we worked through that as a group.” After returning to the Premier League summit with a 2-0 win over Fulham on Monday, Spurs struggled in the first half at Selhurst Park and were indebted to fine early saves from Guglielmo Vicario to deny Ayew and Odsonne Edouard. Postecoglou, who had lambasted his side for their second-half showing earlier in the week, introduced Emerson Royal for Ben Davies at the break and watched Ward put into his own net from Maddison’s cross to open the scoring. It was 2-0 when Son fired home for his eighth goal of the campaign following Johnson’s smart pass, his first assist since a £45million deadline-day transfer from Nottingham Forest. While Ayew managed to reduce the deficit – in the fourth minute of stoppage time after a lengthy VAR check – Tottenham stood firm to claim a fourth-straight win and show another side with a dogged defensively display, despite enjoying more than 70 per cent possession. Postecoglou added: “I have always felt that matchdays are about the players. What we try to do on a daily basis is give them the tools to find the solutions. “We prep them for their exam at the weekend, but we don’t know what the questions are going to be. They’ve got to work them out themselves. “In an exam you are not asking anybody for help. You have to work it out yourself and hopefully what we’ve given them is the tools.” Palace boss Roy Hodgson was disappointed to suffer a second-consecutive defeat and admitted his substitutes weakened his team. “I thought it was an aggressive and quite-controlled first half from our side, but of course the first goal then produces a second,” he said. “That is when we start putting players on the field, players who have not really played with the first team, Jes (Rak-Sakyi), (Naouirou) Ahamada, (Matheus) Franca and we lost the intensity we were able to do in the first half. “In the end it became easy for them (Tottenham) to see the game through.” Read More Tottenham overcome a ‘different challenge’ on way to extending Premier League lead Ange Postecoglou: Tottenham not a better team without Harry Kane, just different Ange Postecoglou: Spurs a big club who should challenge for trophies every year ‘Really disappointed’: Ange Postecoglou’s surprise response as Tottenham go top Ange Postecoglou’s four new signings breathe fresh life into different Tottenham Ange Postecoglou hopes Tottenham can offer fans ‘escape’ from Israel-Hamas conflict

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