Jose Mourinho was left breathless by the performance of Anthony Gordon after the ex-Everton man blew Benfica away
Jose Mourinho and Eddie Howe
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Jose Mourinho made a beeline for Anthony Gordon at the final whistle because he had a specific message he wanted to give to the England star.
The Benfica boss raced over to the Newcastle star at full-time and hugged him close in a magical moment for the flying forward. Gordon took his tally for Newcastle to four for the season but capped a great seven days after scoring for England in Latvia during World Cup qualifying and now lighting up the European stage in black and white.
Mourinho said after the game: "Anthony Gordon had a tremendous game - and was the best player on the pitch.
"The second goal from Harvey Barnes killed the game and it was easy for Newcastle to enjoy the game.
"We conceded three goals from transitions. The first - I wouldn't call it a transition, but it was a quick attack. Newcastle are a team with fantastic physicality, quality, and rhythm. They have Gordon, Murphy and Elanga and many options.
"This tells me about the level of Newcastle. We could not compete with their horsepower. We lost being compact and were exposed.
"It’s just a case of levels. Their second goal was a killer, psychologically. The man-of-the-match was Anthony Gordon. Their wingers have pace and power - and they have four of them"
However, Mourinho felt that the St James' Park were somewhat subdued in terms of the atmosphere, he said: "I think it's still beautiful but to be honest I think in the first half it was a quiet St James'. It was quiet.
"They felt that the game was not easy. They felt Benfica was much closer than Newcastle to score."
And looking back at Newcastle's display, Mourinho felt it was down to the Magpies' dominance from set-plays as the likes of Malick Thiaw, Dan Burn, Joelinton, when he came on, and Nick Woltemade all caused problems.
The Benfica chief said: "They brought their enthusiasm to set-pieces which is normal. When you have a team of giants, you know every set-piece, free-kick or corner, you know it's a dramatic moment for the opponent. But it was the only moment that there was the enthusiasm and pressure to the opponent.
"We felt very comfortable in the first half. In the second half, the second goal kills the game and then after that it's easy for Newcastle to play and for the fans to enjoy.
"But to be honest the atmosphere was just nice, not difficult, and beautiful in the sense of fair play, no problems, good referee, no disciplinary problems. In that sense it was a quiet St James'."
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