Ipswich’s relegation confirmed after defeat at Newcastle

Newcastle welcomed Eddie Howe back to work by returning to the Premier League’s top three as 10-man Ipswich’s relegation was confirmed.

Howe, who was admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia earlier this month, returned to the training ground on Thursday and watched from the dugout at St James’ Park as his side was made to graft for a 3-0 win despite Ben Johnson’s 37th-minute dismissal for a second bookable offence.

Alexander Isak’s penalty in first-half stoppage-time and second-half headers from Dan Burn and substitute Will Osula sent Howe’s men back above Manchester City, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest – Forest have a game in hand – and maintained their push for Champions League football.

For the visitors, the mood was very different as their stay in the top flight drew to a close with four games remaining.

The visitors capitalised on a sloppy start by the hosts with Jack Clarke flashing the ball across the face of goal after latching on to Dan Burn’s loose pass and Liam Delap seeing a controlled volley from the resulting corner blocked on its way to goal.

Fabian Schar had to atone for his own error by blocking Delap’s shot after presenting the ball to the striker, but as the hosts finally found a rhythm, Bruno Guimaraes had a 22nd-minute goal ruled out for a foul on keeper Alex Palmer and Sam Morsy survived a VAR check for a crude challenge on Joe Willock with the temperature rising.

Julio Enciso whipped a 32nd-minute shot over Nick Pope’s crossbar after Ipswich had taken a quick free-kick, but Isak missed the target with a header from a Harvey Barnes cross at the other end and was similarly inaccurate with an ambitious volley from Murphy’s delivery seconds later.

However, the visitors’ afternoon took a decided