Newcastle United recorded their joint-largest victory in European competition as they hammered Qarabağ 6-1 – a victory which puts them on the brink of their first-ever Round of 16 appearance in the UEFA Champions League (UCL).
Plenty had been made of Newcastle’s 2,529 mile-trip to Baku – the longest distance an English side has ever travelled for a UCL away clash – and potential fatigue alongside injuries suggested the Toon could be in for a difficult evening. However, by HT in the Azerbaijani capital, the tie was effectively over as Newcastle blitzed their sorry opponents.
They required less than three minutes to break the deadlock, as Anthony Gordon ran onto Dan Burn’s through ball before firing past Mateusz Kochalski. By the 10-minute mark, the visitors were two to the good when Malick Thiaw headed home Kieran Trippier’s cross to give Eddie Howe’s men complete control.
A flurry of last-gasp Kochalski stops kept Qarabağ within touching distance as the Pole twice denied Gordon, and then Harvey Barnes, but he ultimately only delayed the inevitable. Newcastle’s third came from the penalty spot after Matheus Silva had handled Barnes’ shot, and Gordon doubled his side’s tally from 12 yards with an emphatic effort.
And with Qarabağ on their knees, Gordon sealed a hat-trick just 60 seconds later, by pouncing on the dawdling Kevin Medina before slotting into the corner.
The Horsemen’s nightmare first period was capped off when they gave away another penalty on the brink of HT, this time after Kochalski brought down Gordon as the last man.
Despite the dominant display, a tense interaction ensued between the man of the moment and captain Trippier, with the former refusing to let Joe Willock step up instead prior to netting for a fourth time.
Perhaps the Liverpudlian had one eye on the UCL scoring charts given his quadruple took him to 10 goals in the competition this term, second only to Kylian Mbappé.
