Newcastle equal their biggest Premier League win with rout of Sheffield United

Newcastle completed the Sheffield double in style as they equalled their biggest win of the Premier League era at Sheffield United, whose difficult week ended in an embarrassing 8-0 defeat.

The Blades, who paid tribute before kick-off to women’s player Maddy Cusack following her death aged just 27 this week, endured a chastening afternoon on the pitch at Bramall Lane.

The Magpies hit Sheffield Wednesday for eight under Sir Bobby Robson in 1999 and they did the same to their city rivals on Sunday as Sean Longstaff, Dan Burn, Sven Botman, Callum Wilson, Anthony Gordon, Miguel Almiron, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak all scored.

Any questions about how Newcastle would cope with juggling the demands of the Premier League and Champions League were answered emphatically in a vibrant display which asserted themselves as top-six contenders again following a slow start to the campaign.

The result will add extra pain to the Blades who were already suffering from the events of this week and it was their heaviest league defeat in history.

They were within minutes of beating Tottenham last week until succumbing to the latest Premier League comeback in history, but on this evidence, they are heading straight back to the Championship.

The pressure will mount on boss Paul Heckingbottom, whose side have taken one point from their first six games.

The build-up to the game was dominated by the Blades’ tribute to Cusack, who also worked in the club’s commercial department, with a poignant eulogy followed by her mum and sister laying a wreath on the centre circle.

The hosts were desperate to get a result in her memory and they started well with Luke Thomas having two good chances at the far post.

First he saw a drilled effort blocked and