Dan Burn opened the scoring in the first half with an excellent header from Kieran Trippier’s free-kick, with Joelinton claiming the Magpies’ second at the start of the second half as he nodded in Harvey Barnes’ cross.
What were the main talking points on Tyneside?
**HOWE’S SELECTION**
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In the wake of Sunday’s Hammers horror-show in east London, Eddie Howe admitted he was facing a dilemma ahead of tonight’s game – stick with his tried-and-tested performers to give them a chance to make amends for their weekend no-show or make wholesale changes in an attempt to engineer an improvement.
In the end, he went for the former option. There were only two changes from the side that lined up at the London Stadium, and one – Kieran Trippier replacing Emil Krafth – saw a senior performer returning after being unavailable at the weekend. The other alteration saw Harvey Barnes replace Jacob Murphy, who had arguably been Newcastle’s best performer against West Ham.
The message to the likes of Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Anthony Gordon was clear – prove Sunday was just an aberration. The response wasn’t perfect, but it was effective. Newcastle were not at their best for much of the game, but they were far too good for an Athletic Bilbao side that currently sit 11th in the La Liga table.
The question now is what Howe will decide to do at Brentford on Sunday. Does he trust this side to finally find their feet in the Premier League? Or will he need some fresh bodies for the final game before the international break?
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What a header. Dan Burn has previously said that his goal at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final was the best header he has scored – surely this has to go close to eclipsing it?
Admittedly, it wasn’t as important as his Wembley effort, but in terms of power and technique, it’s hard to think of a more aesthetically-pleasing headed strike than Burn’s effort that opened the scoring in the 11th minute.
The arc of the run that took him away from the whole of the Athletic defence was impressive enough, but it was eclipsed by what followed, with Burn angling his head to curl in a wonderful header that found the net via the inside of the far post.
That wasn’t Burn’s only impressive attacking intervention as he made a series of purposeful breaks down the left-hand side. The England international might be a more natural centre-half than left-back, but with Lewis Hall still feeling his way back to full fitness, he continues to do a sterling job for his team.
**GORDON’S STRUGGLES**
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A lot of the pre-match discussion had centred around the stark difference between Anthony Gordon’s performances in the Champions League this season and his efforts – or perhaps lack of effort – in the Premier League.
Which Gordon would turn up against Athletic Bilbao? For much of the night, a completely different one. A player who was trying hard enough, but for whom nothing was going right. And one who appeared to be carrying an injury for much of the evening.
Time and time again, Gordon gave the ball away as he tried to find a team-mate. His sloppiness almost proved costly in the 19th minute, when his failure to hold on to the ball sparked an Athletic counter-attack that ended with Nick Pope making a fine save from Unai Gomez, and it did not take long before there was an audible nervousness inside St James’ Park whenever the play made its way to Newcastle’s number ten.
Gordon has always been a confidence player, and at the moment, amid criticism over his inconsistency this season, his confidence appears to have been rocked. To exacerbate matters, he clearly wasn’t comfortable with what appeared to be a hip issue and was hobbling about in obvious discomfort long before he was eventually taken off four minutes before half-time.
He has to be an unlikely starter at Brentford at the weekend, and perhaps he could do with missing out on international duty with England too in order to rest and refresh.
**NEARLY THERE?**
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With nine points from a possible 12, Newcastle have made a superb start to their Champions League campaign.
Last season, 11 points were required to make the play-offs, with Club Brugge the final qualifiers in 24th position on that tally. Newcastle still have four more games to play in this season’s league phase – at home to PSV Eindhoven and away at Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and Paris Saint Germain, so look extremely well-positioned to surpass the 11-point mark.
Could they finish in the top eight and make it straight through to the last 16? They currently sit in sixth position in the standings, and last season, eighth-placed Aston Villa finished on 16 points. Getting to that total feels like a tough ask with three of Newcastle’s remaining four matches coming away from St James’ Park, but it is far from impossible.
Get a positive result in Marseille’s Stade Velodrome at the end of this month – the Ligue 1 club are currently 25th in the standings with three points from their opening four games – and the Magpies really will be able to dream of a top-eight finish.