SO much for the fears of a post-San Siro hangover. And so much for concerns about Newcastle’s early season displays. This was a day for doubts disappearing as Newcastle ran riot at Bramall Lane on a sensational record-equalling afternoon.

Eddie Howe’s Magpies scored EIGHT and could have helped themselves to even more. If this is how Newcastle look immediately after a Champions League game then West Ham, the opponents after the visit of PSG next month, will be quaking in their boots.

Newcastle had eight different scorers as they matched their best ever Premier League win, an 8-0 win over the home side’s near neighbours Sheffield Wednesday in 1999.

The Magpies, it should be said, were given a leg-up by a Sheffield United team whose quite dreadful defending makes them clear favourites for the drop. Long gone are the days when the Magpies concern themselves with what’s going on at the bottom of the table, though. After an unconvincing start to the season, this was a statement win.

And the Magpies can reflect with delight on a week that had a decisive look to it 10 days ago. Two Premier League wins, off the mark in Europe, three successive clean sheets. That’ll do.

The win at Bramall Lane remarkable started with concern and frustration. The Magpies were dealt an early blow when Harvey Barnes was forced off injured. But if Sheffield United thought that was good news, they were mistaken. His replacement, Anthony Gordon, was the game’s best player. And there was plenty of competition. The brilliant Kieran Trippier had a hat-trick of assists.

Six of Newcastle’s starting XI – Sean Longtaff, Dan Burn, Sven Botman, Callum Wilson, Miguel Almiron and Callum Wilson – scored, with two substitutes – Gordon and Alexander Isak also getting in on the act.

Despite the fact the Blades came into this having picked up just one point from their first five games, the feeling around the club was that their improving performances have deserved more. And, as daft as it sounds considering what went on to happen, they started promisingly. With gifted Manchester City loanee James McAtee pulling the strings, the home side were causing problems.

There was an early chance when Jayden Bogle crossed for the unmarked Luke Thomas, who was denied by a fine Trippier block. Thomas had another opportunity just after quarter of an hour when he was picked out by McAtee. Again unmarked, this time he miscued his volley wide, to the relief of the visitors.

Home boss Paul Heckingbottom stressed the importance of “positivity” in his programme notes, but that disappeared in a clinical 15 minute Newcastle spell. The Sheffield United fans aimed their fury at the referee but it was the Blades’ defending, not the officiating, that was the home side’s undoing.

Substitute Gordon teed up Longstaff to get the ball rolling for Newcastle just before the midway point of the first half. The home players and fans screamed injustice after the ball bounced up and hit Gordon on the hand but because the substitute assisted rather than scored the goal, it had to be deliberate. That it was not. The goal stood.

The second and third goals were all about Trippier’s outstanding delivery and Sheffield United’s non-existent marking. Burn stooped to double Newcastle’s lead just after the half-hour mark, heading in a Trippier corner at the back post.

From a Trippier free-kick four minutes later, Burn was marked but Botman wasn’t, the Dutch defender guiding a header into the far corner for his first Newcastle goal. Sheffield United fans were furious with the initial award of the free-kick when Attwell judged Jack Robinson’s heavy challenge on Longstaff to be a foul and worthy of a yellow card. Regardless of the feelings of the home fans, what happened after the goal was inexcusable, a bottle launched from the stands hitting Elliot Anderson. Newcastle’s players kept calm and Trippier made sure the assistant was aware of what had happened.

Any Sheffield United composure had long disappeared. The board indicating six minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first period wasn’t a welcome sight for the home players, who were desperate for half-time and the opportunity to gather their thoughts. The pre-match demand for positivity from Heckingbottom was replaced by a desperate call for calm from the technical area.

The home side were fortunate to only trail by three goals at the break. Wilson and Gordon both twice went close.

There was no let-up and the fourth that Newcastle were threatening arrived just 11 minutes after the break. Fabian Schar showed excellent awareness and vision to spot and pick out Trippier on the right, and the defender added a third assist with a lofted cross into the path of Wilson, who headed low into the net.

The offside Almiron had a goal chalked off on the hour mark but Sheffield United’s relief – if it could be classed as such – was extremely short-lived. Just a minute later, the immense Gordon cut in from the left and curled beautifully into the bottom corner. The clock showed that there was still half an hour to play but plenty of home fans had seen enough. The minute Gordon’s strike hit the net, thousands headed for the exits.

As they made their way from Bramall Lane, they’ll have no doubt heard the roar from the Newcastle fans that greeted the sixth goal on 68 minutes. Bruno played in Almiron, who slotted home. So easy.

And it was soon seven, Bruno firing beyond Foderingham after Longstaff’s initial shot was blocked. Isak added an eighth three minutes from time.