'This city is believing again,' read Wor Flags' banner in the Gallowgate End before kick-off. Believing that anything is possible once more - and understandably so following Newcastle United's 4-0 win against Aston Villa at St James' Park.
Fourth-placed Newcastle have now won five of their last six games. Eddie Howe's side are unbeaten in eight matches and have lost just one fixture all season. With this sort of momentum, this club is historically difficult to stop.
You have to go back to 2006 for the last time Newcastle won five Premier League games in a month and 2002 for the last time the Magpies won this many matches (18) in a calendar year. On both occasions, Newcastle ended up playing in Europe.
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There is a long way to go yet, of course, but what could have been one of those days at St James', following a frustrating, stop-start opening 40 minutes against Villa, ended up being one of the black-and-whites' most impressive performances yet this season. After Callum Wilson put the hosts 1-0 up from the spot just before the break, relentless Newcastle simply blew Villa away.
Wilson, Joelinton and Miguel Almiron all got on the scoresheet in the space of 11 breathless minutes in the second half and it could and should have been more after Howe's side twice hit the woodwork. Just like Brentford three weeks previously, it felt like another glimpse of the future for the club's watching owners as the free-flowing hosts took another side apart at a rocking St James'.
Such was Newcastle's superiority, Villa did not muster a shot on target or even win a corner over the course of 90 minutes. No wonder Aaron Danks, Villa's interim boss, admitted there were 'lots of sombre heads in the dressing room' at full-time.
There were very different scenes across the corridor in the home dressing room, of course, but no one was getting carried away. The reality is there is still so much more to come from this side.
"There's loads of improvement," Howe told reporters. "I have to say that. If I'm sat here going, 'No, that's us' then the only way from there is down.
"The only way for me to look at any team in any moment is that the only way is up. We have more to drive from the players.
"We have got loads of improvement left in individuals and the team collectively, but I will reiterate we are at the highest level in world football in the Premier League. The competition is very high and if we drop our levels, we will find it difficult. So, as much as I want the players to enjoy it, I want them to really focus on the challenges ahead."
Those words will scare the established order. Not least Liverpool, who are eight points behind Newcastle in the table. On a day where Liverpool and Chelsea both suffered damaging defeats, against Leeds and Brighton respectively, the Magpies' 4-0 win versus Villa cannot be underestimated when there are simply no easy games in the Premier League. With Unai Emery watching on from afar, and the visitors eager to impress the new Villa boss, this was never going to be a straightforward match for Newcastle, after all.
Having previously been frustrated at home by Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, clearly, Newcastle needed to make a bright start and get the crowd right into the game. There were just three minutes on the clock when Miguel Almiron fed Kieran Trippier on the overlap down the right and the England international's cross was headed over by Wilson.
However, Danks, knowing his side were 'underdogs', hoped Villa could 'frustrate them and stop them from doing what they want to do' and the visitors soon did just that. Villa broke the game up and disrupted Newcastle's rhythm with both Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia requiring lengthy treatment after going down with injuries. Martinez, to be fair, ultimately had to come off with concussion and was replaced by Robin Olsen, but the stoppages unsettled Newcastle.
Newcastle could have let those frustrations get the better of them but, tellingly, Howe's side finished the half strongly after a whopping 10 minutes of stoppage time were added on. Newcastle were more than halfway through added time when Joe Willock's attempted pass was cut out by Douglas Luiz, but the midfielder quickly recovered to close the Brazilian down. The ball then ricocheted into the path of Wilson, who spotted Almiron unmarked in the box and played the ball out to his team-mate.
Almiron opened up his body and attempted to curl the ball into the net first-time, but Ashley Young blocked the in-form forward's effort with his arm as he slid in. Referee Paul Tierney duly pointed to the spot and up stepped Wilson to break the deadlock with a cool penalty straight down the middle. Gareth Southgate could not help but smile as the England boss watched on from the directors' box.
It was a crucial goal at a crucial time and the mood inside the stadium changed in an instant. However, while Newcastle were ahead at half-time, Howe wanted more as he told his players to be 'clearer' with what they were 'trying to deliver'. They certainly were after the break and the hosts soon doubled their advantage.
There were 56 minutes on the clock when Trippier took a short corner and played a clever one-two with Almiron before standing up his cross in a routine straight from the training ground. There was Wilson to head the ball into the ground before it bounced onto the post and into the net.
It was a damaging time for Villa to concede another goal and it soon got even worse for the visitors after they were taken apart on the counter just three minutes later. Willock's attempted pass to Joelinton was cut out by Matty Cash but the ball fell to Wilson inside the box. Although Olsen was able to parry Wilson's effort, Joelinton pounced on the rebound to make it 3-0 in front of watching Brazil boss Tite.
Newcastle were not done yet as Villa players' heads dropped. Wilson picked out Almiron drifting in from the right in the 67th minute and, after taking two touches, the Paraguay international let fly with what is now a trademark curling effort from distance to leave Olsen with no chance.
Howe's side were running riot and there was still time for Wilson, on a hat-trick, to hit the bar with another header and for substitute Jacob Murphy to strike the post. 6-0 certainly would not have flattered Newcastle, but the Magpies ultimately had to make do with a four-goal win. That is a sentence worth repeating.
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