SHEFFIELD: Newcastle came close to matching the Premier League's record margin of victory as they thrashed Sheffield United 8-0 at Bramall Lane on Sunday. Eddie Howe's side ran riot with goals from Sean Longstaff, Dan Burn, Sven Botman, Callum Wilson, Anthony Gordon, Miguel Almiron, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak. The biggest winning margin in the Premier League era is 9-0, a score recorded by Manchester United against Ipswich and Southampton in 1995 and 2021 respectively. Liverpool won 9-0 against Bournemouth last year, while Leicester managed it against Southampton in 2019. Sheffield United's largest ever league defeat sent the Blades to the bottom of the Premier League table. With just one point from their first six games back in the English top flight, Paul Heckingbottom's future as manager is now in doubt. "The first-half goals we conceded were really poor, but it's the second half I'm upset with," said Heckingbottom. "The errors that led to goals, a lot of things I'd never seen before, and there's certain things that aren't acceptable." Newcastle had lost three of their opening five league games of the season to dampen expectations that the Saudi-backed Magpies could challenge for the title. Howe's men had been in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years on Tuesday as they played out a 0-0 draw away to AC Milan. But Newcastle showed no signs of fatigue and they exhibited their strength in depth as they became the first side in Premier League history to have eight different scorers in one match, not including own goals. "I thought we were really good, and once the goals came the confidence returned," said Howe. "What a response from the players in the past week." Sheffield United had started the game
