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Rafa Benitez isn’t an expansive manager.

Newcastle United will settle for nicking a 1-0 win on the road every week

That’s what everyone said.

Well everyone was wrong. Very wrong. Woefully wrong.

The Magpies did not just beat Queens Park Rangers, they brutally hammered them into submission on their own patch.

QPR may have looked awful, but that’s because United made them look as such.

Every single Newcastle player won their individual battles against their opposite number at Loftus Road, but Ayoze Perez and Jonjo Shelvey well and truly ran the show as United won 6-0 in west London.

Shelvey scored twice - including a sublime 22-yard curler - and Perez also got himself on the scoresheet, while Ciaran Clark and Grant Hanley also scored. Aleksandar Mitrovic too introduced himself to the Championship with a goal.

It was the Magpies’ biggest away win in 21 years, it was their sixth victory in a row and it was done in some style.

On a night when Manchester City were forced to postpone their Champions League tie with Borussia Monchengladbach due to a waterlogged pitch, QPR and Newcastle ran out in plus-20-degree temperatures on a stiflingly hot evening in west London.

New signings Daryl Murphy and Achraf Lazaar both travelled down to west London, but neither made the squad - though fellow summer recruit Christian Atsu was named on the bench.

Benitez made four changes to the side who beat Derby County 2-0 at the weekend, with Chancel Mbemba and Jack Colback missing out with slight knocks - while Dwight Gayle and Mo Diame were replacements.

In their place, Clark, Isaac Hayden, Perez and Mitrovic - who was making his first appearance in the second tier - were given starts.

And United started at lightning pace, with Matt Ritchie seeing an effort go just wide before the Magpies had a goal disallowed.

From a corner kick, the ball bobbled around in the box before eventually finding its way to Shelvey on the edge of the box.

The United midfielder smashed in a shot, which deflected off a QPR defender and then off Perez and into the net.

Eventually referee Andy Davies consulted with his fellow official and they disallowed the strike - though it appears that may have been a harsh call.

Thankfully for the visitors, just minutes later, the Magpies had the ball in the back of the net once again - though on this occasion it counted.

Mitrovic laid the ball back to Shelvey at the edge of the area and the Magpies midfielder lashed an effort at goal.

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It took a wicked deflection off Steven Caulker, wrong-footing Alex Smithies in the QPR goal - and, though the keeper got a hand to it, he could not keep it out.

Shelvey sprinted the length of the field to celebrate in front of United fans, putting his hands around his eyes as if to represent goggles.

From that moment, Newcastle took control.

Chances fell to Matt Ritchie - who forced a goal save from Smithies from 25 yards - Yoan Gouffran and Perez before 20 minutes had even ticked by on the clock.

At times during the first half, United switched fluidly between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-4-2, with Perez sometimes pushing up alongside Mitrovic.

The pair would then press high up the field and worked extremely hard to win the ball back.

And, right on the half-hour mark, Perez would be rewarded for his endeavours with a goal.

Ritchie did superbly down the left and curled a delicious ball into the box. Perez’s touch took him wide, and his angled shot was parried by Smithies.

But Perez would get a second bite at it - and he made no mistake with the rebound, firing low across goal and into the bottom corner to double United’s lead.

QPR looked shell-shocked throughout much of the first half; in fact, their first real shot of note did not arrive until the 37th minute, when Matz Sels easily smothered Tjaronn Chery’s 25-yard effort.

Perez - who was superb during the first 45 minutes - almost set-up a third for Newcastle just before the break.

Shelvey played a wonderful through-ball to split the QPR defence, Perez turned just in front of Smithies and laid it back to Mitrovic, whose shot deflected just past the post.

At the start of the second half, it was QPR who had the first opportunity, with Chery forcing a save from Sels once again.

But the game was soon over as a contest.

And it was Shelvey who once again produced the goods.

Standing 22 yards out, Shelvey spotted that Smithies was not quite rooted to his line.

The 24-year-old then opened up his body, curled a shot high and over Smithies; it then dipped wickedly and nestled in the top corner of the net.

It was some strike - and just minutes later Smithies was once again picking the ball out of his net.

This time it was from a set-piece, something Newcastle are getting rather good at in an attacking sense.

Ritchie curled it to the back post, Clark rose unmarked and powered a header downwards which bounced in.

Mitrovic then forced two excellent saves from Smithies as a rampant Newcastle simply toyed with the home side.

And the Serbian finally had the ball in the back of the net himself.

When substitute Christian Atsu saw his shot deflect into Mitrovic’s path, the striker simply prodded it past Smithies. QPR were adamant it was offside, but the goal stood.

Substitute Hanley even had time to stab in a sixth as United made their dominance really tell.

On saying that though it could, and perhaps should, have been more as well.

A scoreline of 6-0 did not flatter Newcastle. If anything, it flattered QPR.

This was as dominant an away performance as you will ever see.

Newcastle bullied QPR - and the gulf in class between the two sides bordered upon the embarrassing at times.

Benitez’s men have now won six in a row in all competitions, they haven’t conceded in 495 minutes and they just keep getting better.

This result has sent a message to the rest of the Championship.

They appear to be able to win in whichever fashion they like.

Newcastle really do mean business under Benitez.