Alexander Isak celebrates first Newcastle hat-trick with tribute to team-mate
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Alexander Isak toasted his first treble in a Newcastle shirt before tipping his hat to the Toon's other goalscorer, Jacob Murphy. The highly sought-after Sweden striker needed just 26 seconds to fire Eddie Howe's side in front against Ipswich Town. And he went on to add two more goals after Murphy - who assisted Isak's third goal - doubled Newcastle's lead half an hour later.
As if Ipswich's chastening 4-0 loss at home wasn't bad enough, Isak then sang the praises of Murphy - who used play for the Tractor Boys' arch-rivals, Norwich City - after the final whistle. "He's really helpful, a team player. I am obviously happy for him that he gets rewarded with points too," Isak said before breaking down his first ever Newcastle hat-trick.
He added: "We've been playing so much better lately, and it has been showing in the results. It's been a long time coming for Newcastle, my first one [hat-trick] here. I'm buzzing. "Just scoring goals will give confidence, and help me and the team. It doesn't matter if it's one, two or three.".
While Isak was keen to shower praise on Murphy, the striker was lauded by Howe after the final whistle. He is now on 10 league goals for the season and is starting to hit form at the right time after a slow start to the 2024-25 campaign. The Newcastle boss said: "There's no doubting his quality. We just needed to get the framework of the team right to give him the opportunity to score. He has really responded well. The goals today just show his class and coolness in front of goal. With his speed and his technical ability, he has a bit of everything.
