🔗 Share this article

As Jose Mourinho came at St James' Park and complimented Newcastle's coach and his players, local supporters feared a tough game. However such worries disappeared thanks to a strike from the winger and a brace from substitute Harvey Barnes, ensuring the visitors' coach would not cause any trouble for Newcastle.

Match Dynamics and Initial Action

Mourinho had predicted that the home side would be extremely aggressive, but his own team displayed their similar aggressive approach. The visitors certainly enjoyed disrupting Newcastle's initial attempts to build a smooth attacking rhythm.

Adding to the home team's challenges, two midfielders, Tonali and the Brazilian, began as substitutes as they continued recovering from sickness and a knock respectively.

Before kick-off, the two managers shared a perfunctory, reserved embrace, and it quickly became clear that the Benfica coach had told his side to quiet the crowd by delaying Newcastle and lowering the temperature at every chance.

Key Moments and Decisive Actions

Benfica's tactic yielded mixed outcomes, but when Anthony Gordon and his teammates managed to dismantle the backline, they at first found it hard to generate good chances.

Additionally, Benfica's Belgian winger Dodi Lukebakio almost demonstrated how to finish when, after leaving the defender on the ground, he tested Newcastle's keeper with a powerful shot that got an terrific single-hand stop. No wonder Pope still hopes for an national team return in time for the World Cup.

Yet when Lukebakio directed a further shot off the woodwork, the home side woke up. Jacob Murphy fired wide, and Anatoliy Trubin made an excellent close-range save from Guimaraes before Anthony Gordon at last opened the scoreless tie.

Gordon's blazing pace had caused problems for Mourinho all evening, and he calmly slotted the first goal past Trubin after Murphy's early ball into the box paid off.

When Newcastle's intense, high press was not anticipated by Benfica, Jacob Murphy, chosen over the expensive signing, was available to deliver a ground cross across the goal for the winger to finish.

Later Stages and Decisive Substitutions

Right from the start, Benfica could not be blamed of defending deeply and playing for a draw, but now Mourinho's players pushed forward with total abandon. The winger consistently displayed an ability to destabilize Newcastle's back four, and the Magpies were probably relieved to reset at half-time.

The first half ended with the keeper once more rescuing his team by diverting Lukebakio's shot wide of the goal frame, and as the teams emerged for the next period, the match seemed evenly balanced.

While Gordon, clearly boosted by netting his fourth goal in three European games this campaign, played with the zeal of a wide player aiming to shift the balance in Newcastle's direction, Lukebakio had different ideas.

The manager's winger had already emphasized that, while Dan Burn is a capable centre-back, he is not a natural left-back, and home fans were nervous every time he moved forward.

The Newcastle manager might have relaxed had Lewis Miley, filling in for Sandro Tonali, not headed a set-piece over the bar from a good position. Rather, this thrilling game continued to move from end to end, prompting the manager to bring on Joelinton and Harvey Barnes in place of Jacob Ramsey and Jacob Murphy.

The Benfica boss, at the same time, brought on an additional striker in Ivanovic. It would arguably prove a gamble too far.

Harvey Barnes Seals the Game

Until then, Benfica, and in particular their Portugal back Antonio Silva, had done a fine job in restricting Woltemade's space and pushing the Germany centre-forward deep. But now, with right-back Amar Dedic substituted, the backline was underpowered, and the way was clear for Harvey Barnes to prove that Anthony Gordon is not the manager's only goal-scoring winger.

The home side's double substitution was already proving effective by the time the goalkeeper dispatched a wonderful long throw in Barnes's path. When Antonio Silva, for once, misjudged the bounce, the winger was away, sprinting into the area before maintaining impressive poise to fire a sublime shot past the keeper.

When Harvey Barnes slid a shot through poor Trubin's feet after meeting Anthony Gordon's excellent pass, it was all over. The Benfica manager had warned that the Magpies have several quick wide attackers, and three goals from a pair of wingers had destroyed his hopes of earning the team's first Champions League result of the campaign.