Demba Ba hit a hat-trick for Newcastle as they continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-1 win against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium.

The victory, their sixth in ten games, lifts them up to third in the Premier League table putting them above Chelsea.

Unfancied before the season began, Alan Pardew’s side have confounded all expectations to take the Premier League by storm, with summer signing Ba, a free transfer from West Ham, and strike partner Leon Best particularly notable.

The Senegalese striker put Newcastle ahead after just twelve minutes when he nodded home Gabriel Obertan’s cross, and doubled their lead before half-time when Best’s scuffed effort fell into his path and he converted from close range.

Stoke fought hard to get a foothold in the game and thought they had found a way when they were awarded a 75th minute penalty, which Jonathan Walter converted, but five minutes later Ba completed his second hat-trick of the season when the visitors were awarded a spot-kick for a push on substitute James Perch.