Delight will have been tinged with bewilderment for Eddie Howe as Newcastle finally clicked on the Premier League road this season. Howe’s team were superb as they routed Everton, scoring more goals in one devastating evening than in their previous seven away games combined. He may well question why it has taken so long for such commanding form to materialise.

Newcastle had taken the lead in their three previous away fixtures and lost them all. There would be no lapses on this occasion. A ruthless display, aided and abetted by some dreadful Everton defending, ensured a first Premier League away win since the trip to Leicester on 7 April was in effect secured by half-time.

“It’s a big moment for us confidence-wise and the good feeling of back-to-back wins in the Premier League will help us no end,” said Howe, who joined his players in applauding the travelling Newcastle support long after the final whistle. “It was really important because we haven’t had that feeling at all. I had a real sense of disappointment and regret after Marseille, which was a difficult experience for the supporters, and it was important to give them that winning feeling to take back to Newcastle.”

Nick Woltemade’s tidy feet and the pace of Anthony Elanga hurt the Everton defence throughout. The pair combined 20 seconds in when Woltemade sent the winger clear of Vitalii Mykolenko and Jordan Pickford tipped Elanga’s low drive around a post. From the resulting corner, delivered superbly by Lewis Miley, the Newcastle centre-half Malick Thiaw rose between James Tarkowski and Michael Keane to open the scoring with a close-range header. At 55 seconds, the Germany international’s goal was the fastest scored in the Premier League this season, beating Phil Foden’s 59-second effort for Manchester City against Leeds earlier in the day.

Everton responded well to the early hit and dominated until presenting Newcastle with their second. Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall stretched the visitors but, aside from a Keane strike that was deflected over, David Moyes’s side struggled to create a clearcut chance. Aaron Ramsdale enjoyed a gentle return to the Newcastle lineup. The decision over whether to drop Nick Pope after his mistake in Marseille was taken for Howe with the keeper injuring his groin in training on Friday. His replacement was well protected by Dan Burn, Thiaw and the rest of the Newcastle defence.

The same could not be said of Pickford, though it was his glaring error that allowed the visitors to double their lead. Elanga again caused chaos when beating Mykolenko. Burn diverted a Tino Livramento shot that was heading wide back to Miley, and his drive sailed through Pickford’s guard. Quite what England’s No 1 was thinking as he tried to pat the ball down, succeeding only in knocking it through his legs, is anyone’s guess. The away fans relished that slip by the Sunderland fan they love to bait.

There was no stirring reaction from the hosts this time. Without Idrissa Gueye, who was serving the first of a costly three-match ban for slapping Keane at Manchester United, Everton’s midfield was carved open too easily. Gueye’s replacement, Tim Iroegbunam, toiled for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch.

The midfielder erred before Pickford for Newcastle’s second goal when miscontrolling before Livramento shot. He was also at fault for Newcastle’s third when failing to cut out Livramento’s pass to Elanga. With Everton’s central defenders chasing back, the winger turned the ball inside to the unmarked Woltemade, who lifted a cool, measured finish over Pickford. Game over.

Iroegbunam was replaced at the interval by Carlos Alcaraz, who rattled the bar after Ramsdale had clawed away a James Garner corner on his goalline. But Newcastle remained dangerous and added a fourth after Pickford made two good saves in quick succession to deny Harvey Barnes and Woltemade. Lewis Hall swept a delightful cross to the far post, where Thiaw powered in his second header of the game.

Thierno Barry thought he had finally broken his Everton duck when slicing in from close range. He celebrated as though he had netted a winner. But his wait for a first Everton goal goes on after the video assistant referee spotted Barry had handled prior to converting. Dewsbury-Hall did manage a consolation with an excellent finish from Tarkowski’s pass.

“They were much better than us,” admitted Moyes. “We actually played pretty well with the ball. But the bigger thing was how quick they broke. Every time we gave the ball away they got on to our back line too quickly and it caused us problems. We couldn’t stop it.”