Eddie Howe's side romped to a huge 6-1 Champions League win over Qarabag in Baku on Wednesday night
Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon hit four first-half goals against Qarabag
Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon hit four first-half goals against Qarabag
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Newcastle United made the long trip to Azerbaijan as firm favourites to progress into the last 16 of the Champions League from their play-off with Qarabag.
But few could have predicted what unfolded in a stunning first-half performance that saw Eddie Howe's side lead 5-0 at the break - a scoreline that could have been almost doubled if not for an excellent performance from Qarabag keeper Mateusz Kochalski.
United were rampant, opening up their hosts with ease as chance after chance came their way, and the goals flowed in a 6-1 success.
Front and centre of the action was Anthony Gordon. The England winger was deployed in a central attacking role, in front of a deeper-lying Nick Woltemade, and he made Qarabag pay for their generosity with a scintilating first-half showing.
Gordon grabbed four goals, the first after just three minutes following an excellent throughball from Dan Burn, with the Azerbaijan side unable to cope with his running off the ball and pace.
By the break he added two more from the penalty spot, the second of which he won himself, after earlier completing his hat-trick with another well-taken finish.
As the goals came, the records started to tumble too on a night when Newcastle really showed what they're about.
Gordon's goals took him to 10 for the campaign in the Champions League, the most scored by any Newcastle player in the competition in a single season - and he's got at least three more games to come.
Not only was his hat-trick the fastest by an English player in the Champions League at 43 minutes it was also the fastest scored by an English club from the start of the game, according to football stats site Squawka.
He is some way behind Mo Salah's record of six minutes and 12 seconds for Liverpool in a 7-1 win over Rangers in 2022.
Gordon broke new ground when he became the first Newcastle player to score four goals in a Champions League match, joining an elite list which contains the likes of Harry Kane, Marco van Basten, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Three players have the honour of scoring five in a game - Messi, Luiz Adriano and Erling Haaland.
It's perhaps no surprise that his opener was Newcastle's fastest-ever in the competition.
Gordon was already level with United great Alan Shearer with six Champions League goals, but is now the outright leading goalscorer for the club in the competition.
Harvey Barnes, on five, could overtake Shearer this season if he manages two in the second leg of the last-16 tie against either Chelsea or Barcelona.
On a team level, Newcastle's expected goals of 4.5 in the first half was the most ever recorded in the first half of a Champions League game by ANY club.
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