10 hours ago
7
Even Jose Mourinho could not help but throw an arm around Anthony Gordon at full-time.
The Benfica manager had just watched the forward put in a man-of-the-match display in Newcastle's 3-0 win against his side at St James' Park.
The Champions League is a stage Gordon clearly relishes - and he is not the only one.
Only the bottom three have scored fewer goals in the Premier League this season than Newcastle, who have seven.
Yet it has been a very different story in Europe.
Newcastle have already netted eight goals in just three games in the Champions League.
This was a night where Eddie Howe's side had 19 efforts, 10 shots on target and 38 touches in the opposition box.
A potentially awkward opponent ended up being swept aside - but Howe stressed there is "much more to come".
"We're seeing the early shoots of the new team and it's exciting what we can be," he said. "But a lot of hard work ahead."
Howe was certainly not getting carried away.
But the Newcastle head coach will have taken immense encouragement from the contribution of his forwards.
Newcastle have relied on record signing Nick Woltemade, who scored his side's first goal against Wolves, Arsenal, Union Saint-Gilloise and Brighton in recent weeks, and whose link-up play was again eye-catching on Tuesday night.
But when this game was on a knife-edge, and St James' Park was tense, Newcastle needed someone else to step up and ease the goalscoring burden.
And Gordon did so when he side-footed home at the back post following Jacob Murphy's ball across in the 32nd minute.
Gordon, in the process, became the first Newcastle player ever to score in three successive Champions League games, while only Alan Shearer has more goals in the competition for the club.
"It means everything, but I need to get more," Gordon told TNT Sport. "My ambition doesn't stop there."
This was a crucial contribution, though, as Benfica manager Mourinho needed no reminding.
His forward Dodi Lukebakio had earlier hit the post and forced Nick Pope into a fine save when the match was goalless.
"St James' was quiet," Mourinho said. "The fans felt that the game was not easy. They felt Benfica was much closer than Newcastle to score.
"They brought their enthusiasm in set-pieces, which is normal. When you have a team of giants, you know every set-piece, throw-in, lateral free-kick, corner is a dramatic moment for the opponent - and it was the only moment that they brought that enthusiasm and that pressure to the opponent.
"We felt very comfortable in the first half."
Newcastle, crucially, did not ease off after taking the lead, though.
The hosts scored the goal that "killed the game" in the words of Mourinho after the break.
Rather than trying to settle for a 1-0 win, Howe introduced Harvey Barnes midway through the second half alongside Joelinton.
And, just like against Union Saint-Gilloise this month, Barnes looked eager to impress from the bench.
Yet even the substitute will have been surprised by the team-mate who set up his first after Pope single-handedly launched a superb counter-attack with a 65-yard throw from his own box, which Howe hailed as a "thing of beauty".
Benfica defender Antonio Silva rushed across to try to cut out the danger but misjudged the flight of the ball and Barnes pounced, finishing clinically off the upright.
As much as Newcastle players rushed to celebrate with Barnes, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn, Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman tellingly mobbed Pope to congratulate him.
But Newcastle, and Barnes, were not finished yet. There was still time for the substitute to add a third after Gordon teed him up.
Barnes, like Gordon, has embraced this stage with the pair scoring seven goals combined in just three games in the competition.
By way of contrast, they have yet to find the net in the Premier League this season.
"It's a head-scratcher for me," Howe said. "Because we know their qualities, we know they're goalscorers, we know how good players they are - and that goes for another few players in the squad.
"When you see us play like we did tonight, how we attacked and the amount of chances we created, it's a difficult one for us to work out.
"But all we can do is return to the Premier League and return with the same attitude. If the attitude is there, the quality will show."
