Cisse brace downs Baggies

Papiss Cisse notched a brace as Newcastle beat West Brom 3-1 to cement their sixth place in the Premier League.

Cisse and Ben Arfa notch before Long consolation for Baggies

Papiss Cisse notched a brace as Newcastle beat West Brom 3-1 to cement their sixth place in the Premier League.

The Senegal striker notched the opener on six minutes and again on 34 minutes - his fourth and fifth goals in six games for the Magpies.

A Hatem Ben Arfa goal sandwiched in between put the Magpies firmly in control before substitute Shane Long gave the Baggies some hope.

But Alan Pardew's side held on for the win, despite suffering a worrying moment 11 minutes from time when Cisse was carried off on a stretcher with an apparent leg injury.

The victory sees the Magpies draw level on points with fifth-placed Chelsea and move eight points ahead of Liverpool in seventh, who they take on next Sunday.

Deceptively close

Youssouf Mulumbu's drive in the first minute was deceptively close to sneaking in at the far post.

But Newcastle were soon into their stride and Demba Ba forced Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster to turn his downward volley over the bar before Cisse put them ahead after six minutes.

Ben Arfa supplied the telling low ball across the six-yard box and Cisse was left with a simple task to sidefoot home.

Newcastle were seeing plenty of the ball and Ben Arfa doubled their lead after 12 minutes in a lightning counter-attack.

Cisse supplied the assist but Ben Arfa still had plenty of work to do as he cut in from the left and beat the dive of Foster with a fierce drive into the far corner.

Albion tried to retaliate and James Morrison drilled a half volley wide after being teed up by Keith Andrews.

Marc-Antoine Fortune threatened for the first time when he met a cross from Liam Ridgewell but his header was a couple of yards wide of the mark.

Peter Odemwingie had the ball in the net after 32 minutes but Fortune had strayed marginally offside.

Then two minutes later Cisse struck again after another swift counter-attack by the visitors.

Ba backheeled the ball into the path of the overlapping Ben Arfa and his cross picked out Cisse, who made no mistake with a left-footed finish.

Strike quickly

Albion needed to strike quickly to have any hope of rescuing the game and Morrison sliced his shot wide when well placed after Mulumbu had created the opening.

Michael Williamson then deflected a fierce drive from Mulumbu over his own crossbar before Cisse was denied his hat-trick by the alert Foster after Yohan Cabaye's deflected pass had sent him clear of the Baggies

Seven minutes after the re-start, a mix-up between Williamson and goalkeeper Tim Krul allowed Long to nip in and turn the ball into an empty net.

Foster then produced an excellent save to turn aside a low shot from Ben Arfa after a powerful run before Williamson became the first player to be booked after an aerial challenge on Long.

Albion were looking more dangerous and Ridgewell sliced a shot wide when well placed.

The home side, having already used their three substitutes, ended the game with 10 men when Morrison hobbled off after a challenge with Demba Ba with 10 minutes remaining.

The defeat means the Baggies have collected just one point from their last three games in their bid for Premier League survival, while the Magpies are dreaming of Europe with eight matches remaining.

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