Newcastle United secured their place in the Champions League knockout phase with a 6–1 first-leg victory over Qarabag at the Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, pretty much sealing a Round of 16 clash against Chelsea or Barcelona.
Anthony Gordon scored four times in a first-half blitz as Eddie Howe’s side overwhelmed the Azerbaijani champions, putting themselves in a strong position ahead of the return leg at St James’ Park.
Newcastle led inside three minutes when Gordon ran beyond the defence to finish from close range. Five minutes later, Malick Thiaw headed in from Kieran Trippier’s delivery following a corner to double the advantage, and it was obvious what was about to happen for the 80 minutes left on the clock.
Gordon added a third in the 32nd minute from the penalty spot after a handball decision, before adding his fourth goal tkaing advantage of a defensive mishap a minute later, off the kick-off, to round goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski and complete his hat-trick.
Gordon converted a second penalty after being brought down by Kochalski right before the break amid a row with veteran Kieran Trippier for the rights of taking the penalty, ultimately taking his Champions League tally this season to 10 goals in nine appearances.
Qarabag reduced the deficit in the 54th minute when Elvin Jafarguliyev scored from an angle, with the goal awarded after a VAR review.
Newcastle restored their five-goal cushion in the 72nd minute when Jacob Murphy’s effort from distance took a deflection and beat Kochalski.
“That’s as good as we’ve played in a long time,” Eddie Howe said after the game. “We were really good with our press, the attitude of the players to regain the ball high was brilliant.
“We know the tie’s not dead but we’ve put ourselves in a great position.”
Newcastle travel to face Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday before hosting Qarabag in the second leg on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at St. James’ Park.
See More:
* [Newcastle United Match Reports](/newcastle-united-match-reports)