Four key talking points from Newcastle's 3-1 win - plus Rafael Benitez's reaction

Dwight Gayle’s double followed an early header from Ciaran Clark, with Scott Hogan claiming a second-half consolation for the Bees.

What were the key talking points from the Magpies’ victory?

DWIGHT GAYLE IS IN A RICH VEIN OF GOALSCORING FORM

Today’s double made it five goals in the last three games for Gayle, with the striker more that justifying Newcastle’s decision to spend £10m in order to sign him from Crystal Palace in the summer.

The 25-year-old suffered something of a dry spell as he went more than a month without a goal after scoring the winner at Bristol City, but he looks dangerous every time he gets the ball anywhere close to the penalty area at the moment.

Today’s two goals were classic goalscorers’ strikes, with Gayle finding the corner of the net with a clinical finish in the first half before tapping home Jonjo Shelvey’s low cross in the second.

At the start of the season, it looked as though Gayle would face a fierce battle to claim a place in Newcastle’s team, with Aleksandar Mitrovic and Daryl Murphy also on the books. His form has made him extremely hard to drop though, with Rafael Benitez clearly regarding him as Newcastle’s first-choice striker.

JONJO SHELVEY IS FAR TOO GOOD FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Another game; another midfield exhibition from Jonjo Shelvey. The England international is playing superbly at the moment, and is comfortably the classiest player in the Football League.

His passing range is exceptional, and today’s game featured a succession of searing long-range passes fired out to the flanks to spread the play.

Shelvey set up all three of Newcastle’s goals, delivering the cross for Clark’s header, firing in the long ball that led to Gayle’s first goal, and supplying the slick low cross that enabled Gayle to tap home the Magpies’ third.

The 24-year-old is a real leader within the Newcastle dressing room – he took over the armband after Jamaal Lascelles was replaced in the second half – and his performances are likely to remain crucial to his side’s hopes of winning promotion.

DEFENDING SET-PIECES REMAINS A CONCERN

It would be harsh to be too critical of anything after such a comfortable win, but Rafael Benitez will still have been disappointed to see his side concede another soft goal from a set-piece in the second half.

Scott Hogan was able to head home from close range after a corner was flicked on at the front post, and dealing with crosses into the box remains an issue for the Magpies’ back four.

Neither Lascelles nor Clark were able to get close enough to Hogan, and Newcastle also looked vulnerable from deliveries from the wide positions in their last home game against Norwich.

Karl Darlow’s promotion ahead of Matz Sels has helped Newcastle look more solid in their own penalty area – the goalkeeper came off his line to make two excellent catches – but there is still a general vulnerability when balls are delivered into the six-yard box.

NEWCASTLE CONTINUE TO PULL CROWDS THAT ARE MASSIVE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP

For the third time this season, Newcastle attracted a home attendance that exceeded the 50,000 mark – a remarkable achievement given they are playing in the second tier.

Today’s crowd of 51,885 was the second-highest in the country – only Arsenal attracted a bigger gate for their home game with Swansea City – with the club’s supporters having remained loyal despite last season’s relegation.

Their average league attendance this season is the ninth highest in the whole of Europe, underlining the latent potential that persuaded Rafael Benitez to remain in charge this summer.

With the away allocation for Tuesday’s game at Barnsley already sold out, Newcastle’s supporters are revelling in their side’s performances this season.

MANAGER’S REACTIONS

Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez said: “I am pleased because after the international break it is not easy to keep the team playing well, concentrating and working hard.

“We did everything that we wanted to do, but still you can improve things. But I am really pleased because we scored three times, we controlled the game, passed it well and created chances.

“Even better because we did it against a good team who pass it well, have good movements and you could see they knew what to do. So to create chances and then win the game was even better.

“We did some good things today in terms of open play and set-pieces, a lot of good things. When you score these type of goals, the team have to take lots of confidence from this to keep doing more of this in the future.”

Brentford manager Dean Smith said: “It was an uphill battle straight away from giving away a two-goal lead so early on. It was our concentration lapses which led to us giving the two goals away.

“From that point we became conscious of Newcastle having a lot of players who are of Premier League quality and you could see that out there. We just never really sustained any pressure.

“When you look at their team with Jonjo Shelvey, Dwight Gayle - they have pace and quality throughout the team which is indicative of the size of the club. You can see that with 52,000 fans here at St James' Park.

“Then you have the likes of Anita and Atsu down the flanks who have the pace to cause us trouble and Newcastle have a lot of players who should be in the Premier League.”

LINE-UPS:

Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Darlow; Anita, Lascelles (Hanley 60), Clark, Dummett; Shelvey, Colback; Atsu (Yedlin 72), Perez, Gouffran (Lazaar 84); Gayle.

Subs (not used): Sels (gk), Hayden, Diame, Mitrovic.

Brentford (4-2-3-1): Bentley; Colin, Dean, Egan, Bjelland (Barbet 75); Woods, Yennaris (McCormack 78); Clarke, McLeod (Kaikai 64), Sawyers; Hogan.

Subs (not used): Bonham (gk), Saunders, McEachran, Kerschbaumer.