Newcastle travelled 2,500 miles to the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium and could not have asked for more from their first leg play-off as they bid to win a place in the last 16 of the Champions League
Anthony Gordon made Champions League history by scoring the quickest ever hat-trick by an Englishman after a sensational 33-minute treble. He ended up with four, the man of the match award and even had time to squabble with Kieran Trippier in an incredible first half.
The £40million star's quickfire hat-trick was also the quickest for an English club as he emulated the likes of Alan Shearer and Rob Lee with a trio of strikes in European away ties for the Magpies. No one has scored four, however.
However, a squabble between Gordon and Trippier attracted attention as the players went off at the break. It took teammates such as Dan Burn and Anthony Elanga to diffuse the situation which seemed to be caused by a disagreement over who took the second penalty United were awarded.
As Gordon was congratulated by some team-mates as the half-time whistle sounded there was a slight coming together between the duo. But any tensions seem to have passed when Gordon went off late in the game as the pair hugged.
This was Gordon's night as he took his Champions League tally to 10 goals to push Newcastle closer to an £11m jackpot for making the last 16.
The Magpies made an early foray down the left after just 52 seconds as Harvey Barnes broke free past Matheus Silva but he drilled the ball straight at Matuesz Kochalski. But the Magpies went ahead in the second minute to hand Eddie Howe's side the dream start.
Lewis Hall worked the ball to Dan Burn in Newcastle's half before the Blyth battler lofted it to the right-hand side for Kieran Trippier. The 35-year-old then won a throw-in before tossing it to Burn who drove forward to pick out Anthony Gordon.
Burn took four touches and surged forward before a clever pass for Gordon who ran on to the ball and slammed home first time just inside the box and into the bottom corner. After a spell of pressure from Qarabag, Newcastle then doubled their money to go 2-0 up on eight minutes.
Trippier curled in a corner before Sandro Tonali's shot was blocked, and the veteran full-back then lofted the ball to the back post for Malick Thiaw to power home a second.
Great play from Gordon with 15 minutes gone saw the Scouser release Barnes but his shot was deflected wide for another corner. Tonali whipped the ball in from the left but Gordon could not connect at the back post.
However, the explosive start from United shook Qarabag with the Azerbaijan outfit knowing they had a mountain to climb. The Qarabag side cost only £23million to put together compared to Newcastle's total squad cost of £619m.
And the home side were dealt a blow when Bahlul Mustafazada went off injured and was replaced by Dani Bolt on 23 minutes. Newcastle had chances to extend their lead even further through Barnes, who saw a shot saved from close range, and then Gordon who watched on as an effort was blocked.
This was all before the 28 minute-mark and the resultant corner from Gordon's effort resulted in Joe Willock seeing a low shot blocked. However, Silva was adjudged to have touched the ball with his left arm before Norwegian ref Espen Eskas pointed to the spot!
Gordon stepped up and buried it in the bottom left hand corner to extend the lead to 3-0 on 32 minutes. The keeper guessed the right way but couldn't get close.
But the night and the tie was effectively sealed a minute later when Gordon skipped through to seal his hat-trick. No sooner had Qarabag restarted the game than the punch drunk hosts lost the ball in the centre circle, and Nick Woltemade hooked the ball forward for Gordon again.
The England international robbed Kevin Medina before rounding the goalkeeper and slotted home to claim the match ball.
Gordon then helped himself to another penalty after slipping into the box and being taken down by Kochalski who was having a torrid night. The Scouser stepped and sent the ball the other way to make it 5-0 on the stroke of half-time.
Newcastle players raced to Gordon on the stroke of half-time to congratulate him for an outstanding performance. However, there seemed to be a row between Gordon and Trippier as the team left the field at the break.
Trippier appeared to get caught in a debate over whether Willock should have been allowed to take it, but Gordon was the designated taker.
Qarabag made a change in the second half as Leandro Andrade went off and was replaced by veteran defender Badavi Huseynov. The home side pulled a goal back to warm up the crowd nine minutes into the second half when Elvin Cafarquliyev fired past Pope following a raid down the left.
Pope looked shaky and denied himself a clean sheet with an error to hand Qarabag some slim hope as Elvin Cafarquliyev slotted home. After an offside check, the goal was awarded to the enthusiasm of the Qarabag faithful.
On 61 minutes, Tonali drifted the ball in for Woltemade but his header ended up on the top of the net. Howe then started to ring the changes as Gordon went off on 68 minutes after his heroics.
Trippier and Gordon hugged as he went off while Anthony Elanga and Joe Willock were replaced by William Osula and Jacob Murphy for the final stages. Murphy took just three minutes to make an impact.
Murphy cushioned down a pass on the right and twisted past Elvin Jafarguiliyev before curling home majestically to score his first goal since November.
Howe introduced Joelinton for his first minutes since a groin injury while youngster Sean Neave was also handed his debut for the Magpies for the closing minutes.
Referee: Espen Eskas (Norway)
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