The Newcastle fans who had made the long journey from the north-east to Suffolk were rewarded instantly, with Isak needing just 26 seconds to score his first goal, heading home a loose ball after Jacob Murphy’s cross from the right was not cleared.
Murphy added a second goal, before Isak was awarded Newcastle’s second and third shortly before half-time. Ipswich goalkeeper Arijanet Muric tried to pass to Jens Cajuste, who lost the ball to Bruno Guimaraes, and Isak had an easy job of scoring.
He didn’t have to wait long for his hat-trick, finishing minutes after another pass from Murphy.
“Alex is a world-class talent,” added Howe. “The way he took his goals, he has a coolness and composure that are rare. When you add his technical skills, I think he has everything.
“He has a unique skill, and the challenge is to get him into the game as much as we can, at the beginning of the season we were not doing that, but now the team is doing better.
“He’s a confident player and we can see him getting back to his best form – that’s reflected in the goals he’s scored.”