"When, on the eve of kick-off, Qarabag's manager, Gurban Gurbanov, said Newcastle had a style of play that does not suit us, there were suggestions he was playing mind games. Long before half-time it was fully apparent that, if anything, Gurbanov had rather understated things. Had this been a boxing match it would surely have been stopped after a matter of minutes. Qarabag were utterly overwhelmed by the pace of their guests and that of Anthony Gordon in particular."
"Gordon scored four times, taking his tally in the Champions League this season to 10. It all ensured that the 1,998 Newcastle fans who had arrived on the banks of the Caspian Sea on a series of indirect flights via cities as far flung as Istanbul and Warsaw had their endurance rewarded by the most convincing of performances from Eddie Howe's team."
"The 2,529 miles Howe's squad had travelled was the longest away trip ever made by an English team in the Champions League. Not that they showed too many signs of jet lag after their six-hour flight from Tyneside. Indeed, the game had barely begun before Dan Burn discovered his inner Beckenbauer and, having stepped elegantly out of defence, supplied Gordon with a beautifully weighted pass."
Newcastle won 6-1 away at Qarabag in the first leg of the Champions League playoff as Anthony Gordon scored four goals, bringing his season tally to ten. Qarabag were overwhelmed early by Newcastle's high-tempo, aggressively physical press and frequent pace, surrendering possession and folding despite recent wins over Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Copenhagen. The 1,998 Newcastle supporters in Baku saw a convincing display that felt restorative for Eddie Howe's squad after recent problems. The trip covered 2,529 miles, the longest away journey by an English team in the competition, but the players showed no jet lag. Dan Burn provided a key pass to set up Gordon.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]