Newcastle have regained their four-point lead at the top of the Championship table after beating Scunthorpe.
Carroll on song as Newcastle march on
Newcastle have regained their four-point lead on West Brom at the top of the Championship table after beating Scunthorpe 3-0.
West Brom piled the pressure on The Magpies by beating Swansea on Tuesday, although Chris Hughton's side responded in the perfect fashion.
To be fair they had the game virtually wrapped up inside 22 minutes courtesy of goals from in-form Andy Carroll and Peter Lovenkrands.
The match was settled 10 minutes into the second half with Carroll's second of the game putting The Magpies out of sight.
The win moves Newcastle 12 points clear of third-placed Nottingham Forest, while Scunthorpe remain third from bottom.
Opening goal
The Magpies, who had scored 18 goals in their previous four home games, went in front with 10 minutes gone when Carroll met Danny Guthrie's corner with a thumping header to claim his 13th goal of the season.
Nolan had the ball in the net once again two minutes later when he headed home Guthrie's rehearsed free-kick, only to see his effort ruled out for offside.
The Iron escaped once again with 16 minutes gone when Lovenkrands smashed the ball against the crossbar after Joe Murphy had spilled Jose Enrique's cross, but the goalkeeper redeemed himself with a fine save from Carroll's powerfully-struck shot three minutes later.
However, Murphy was left cruelly exposed once again with 22 minutes gone when Wayne Routledge's defence-splitting pass put Lovenkrands in on goal and the Dane finished superbly to make it 2-0.
The goalkeeper pulled off a stunning point-blank stop to deny Lovenkrands a second five minutes later, and his goal continued to lead a charmed life as Scunthorpe somehow managed to get the to break without conceding again.
Doubled their lead
But Newcastle increased their lead in fine style with 55 minutes gone.
Fabricio Coloccini picked up possession deep inside his own half and fed Guthrie, whose ball over the top allowed Carroll to race away and chip a delicate shot over the advancing Murphy.
Steve Harper had to make a good save from Jonathan Forte seconds later and another from substitute Martyn Woolford with nine minutes remaining, and in the meantime Jonas Gutierrez had seen a 71st-minute strike disallowed for offside.
Murphy palmed away a well-struck effort from Gutierrez after and enterprising 87th-minute run from halfway, but the damage had been done long before.
