Steve Bruce has complained of feeling “insulted” by suggestions he is a “lucky” manager destined to soon be “found out”. In private Newcastle’s manager must surely acknowledge his team have been fortunate at times this season but there was nothing remotely flukey about this ultimately comfortable deconstruction of Burnley.
Indeed, on a night when Allan Saint-Maximin shone in a much‑improved home performance, the only caveat was that Sean Dyche’s team were generally so poor it was easy to see why they are still without a point.