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Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy | Getty Images
Jacob Murphy bagged the sixth goal as Newcastle United thrashed Qarabag in the Champions League.
Jacob Murphy has thanked the 2,000 supporters who made the 5,000-mile-round trip for Newcastle United’s win over Qarabag.
A ruthless first-half performance put the tie to bed, with Anthony Gordon bagging four and Malick Thiaw netting a header. Qarabag fired back through Elvin Cafarguliyev before Jacob Murphy’s long-range effort completed the rout.
Newcastle took a huge leap towards the last 16 of the Champions League, taking a five-goal lead to next week’s reverse leg at St James’ Park. Eddie Howe has earned the right to rest players amid a chaotic fixture list - although he insists the tie is not over.
‘Tie not over’ - Eddie Howe
However, the Toon boss is not getting carried away and wants his players to do a professional job at St James’ Park next week. Howe told TNT Sports: “Overall, it's just a great day for us. We know the tie's not dead or over, but we've put ourselves in a great position.
“I just think we've got to be professional in every moment. We know our football can change. We've just seen that we've won three games in the blink of an eye and the feeling's very different. We respect every opponent and we have to be very good in the next game.”
Jacob Murphy thanks Newcastle United supporters
Honouring the travelling supporters, Murphy said: “I'd like to thank every single one of them. That is an unbelievable achievement for them to come out here and show us that support. It's a really long way. We are privileged that we got to lay down on the way here.
“But their hard-earned cash, their loyalty to come and support us… the fans deserve it. And yeah, we owed them one today for the support. That cluster in the corner, they were as loud as the home side. So thank you, everyone.”
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‘I could die a happy man’ - Jacob Murphy
Murphy also joked how he wanted the manager to subbed him on earlier. He added: “I could die a happy man now. I’m delighted that it's come. So yeah, a really good achievement. I wanted to come on after 20 minutes, I'm like, ‘Get me on, Gaffer!’
“But yeah, I was happy to contribute. You know, the thought process behind the changes that time was to try and regain control because we were losing it a little bit. It wasn't as easy for us in the second half, but yeah, come on, get the goal.”
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