Newcastle earns Premier League promotion with Preston beatdown

Newcastle United can again make Premier League plans after the Magpies earned automatic promotion Monday with a 4-1 drubbing of 10-man Preston North End.

The result sees Newcastle finish no worse than second, with Reading now nine points adrift in third. Brighton secured the other automatic spot last Monday, punching its Premier League ticket with a 2-1 win over Wigan.

The Championship clash at St. James' Park started on the right foot after Ayoze Perez opened the scoring in the seventh minute before Jordan Hugill leveled for The Lilywhites seven minutes later.

Christian Atsu had the Toon Army in hysterics with a deft finish moments before the interval courtesy of a perfectly weighted pass from Aleksandar Mitrovic to again hand Newcastle the lead.

Perez nearly made it 3-1 seconds after the break when Preston bottled a clearance, leaving the Tenerife-born forward with only Chris Maxwell to beat, though the Welsh shot-stopper was up to the task, parrying aside the effort.

Preston's Paul Gallagher secured Newcastle's Premier League return in the 64th minute when the forward channeled his inner Luis Suarez to deny Isaac Hayden's point-blank effort with his hands. Matt Ritchie stepped up to the spot and buried the penalty.

Perez got his brace minutes later, with the Spaniard's second taking as fortuitous of a bounce as his opener when Jonjo Shelvey's corner pinged off the post and into the path of the versatile forward. That made it 4-1, promotion secured.

It's a deserved promotion for a side that hovered around the top-two spots all season, with Brighton overtaking the Geordies down the stretch thanks to five victories in its last six matches. Newcastle won both of its fixtures against Chris Hughton's south-coast Seagulls this season.

Unlike most promoted sides, Benitez's well-equipped squad boasts several players with plenty of top-flight experience. Mitrovic, Perez, Rob Ellliot, Vurnon Anita, and defender Paul Dummett and skipper Jamaal Lascelles, among others, have all played in the Premier League with Newcastle, while summer additions Ciaran Clark, Ritchie, and Shelvey are both familiar with the division.

When Benitez signed a three-year deal to replace Steve McClaren in March 2016, the Spaniard's contract featured a stipulation that he could walk if Newcastle was relegated. Instead, the former Liverpool gaffer stuck around with visions of building a competitive top-flight side at St. James' Park.

That plan is now one step closer to fruition.