Barnes Scores Two Goals as Newcastle Defeat Benfica and Jose Mourinho
When the Benfica manager arrived at St James' Park and praised Newcastle's coach and his squad, home supporters feared a difficult match. However such fears vanished thanks to a strike from the winger and a brace from substitute the forward, making sure the visitors' new manager would not cause pain for Howe's team.
Match Flow and Initial Action
Mourinho had predicted that Newcastle would be extremely aggressive, but his own team showed their own aggressive style. The visitors certainly delighted in disrupting Newcastle's early attempts to establish a fluent attacking rhythm.
Compounding the home team's issues, key players, Sandro Tonali and the Brazilian, started as substitutes as they were recovering from illness and a knock respectively.
Before kick-off, the coaches exchanged a brief, reserved embrace, and it soon became clear that the Benfica coach had told his team to quiet the crowd by slowing the game and reducing the temperature at every chance.
Critical Events and Decisive Actions
The visitors' strategy yielded mixed results, but when Anthony Gordon and his teammates managed to dismantle the defensive barricades, they at first struggled to generate good opportunities.
Additionally, Benfica's Belgium winger Dodi Lukebakio almost showed how to finish when, after beating the defender behind, he forced Newcastle's keeper with a tremendous strike that got an terrific one-handed save. It's no surprise Pope still hopes for an national team recall in time for the World Cup.
Yet when the winger hit a further shot off the woodwork, the home side woke up. Murphy shot wide, and Anatoliy Trubin made an excellent close-range stop from Bruno Guimaraes before Anthony Gordon finally broke the scoreless tie.
The England winger's blazing pace had caused consternation for the Benfica coach all evening, and he neatly side-footed the first goal past Trubin after Murphy's early cross into the box paid off.
When Newcastle's intense, pressing game was not anticipated by the opposition, Jacob Murphy, chosen over ÂŁ55m Anthony Elanga, was there to pass a ground ball across the face of goal for Gordon to finish.
Second Half and Decisive Substitutions
Right from the start, Benfica could not be accused of parking the bus and seeking a point, but now Mourinho's side attacked with real freedom. The winger repeatedly displayed an ability to destabilize Newcastle's back four, and the Magpies were likely relieved to regroup at the break.
The opening period concluded with the keeper again saving his team by diverting the attacker's left-foot around the post, and as the sides came out for the next period, everything seemed finely poised.
If Anthony Gordon, clearly buoyed by scoring his fourth strike in three Champions League appearances this campaign, played with the zeal of a winger aiming to shift the power balance in Newcastle's favor, Lukebakio had different ideas.
The manager's winger had previously shown that, while Burn is a capable central defender, he is not a natural left-back, and home fans were in mouths every time Lukebakio advanced.
Howe might have relaxed had Miley, filling in for Tonali, not headed a corner above the bar from a well-placed spot. Rather, this absorbing game continued to swing from end to end, prompting the manager to bring on the midfielder and Barnes in place of Ramsey and Murphy.
Mourinho, meanwhile, threw on an extra striker in Ivanovic. It would perhaps prove a risk that backfired.
Harvey Barnes Wins the Match
Before that, the away team, and especially their Portugal back Antonio Silva, had done a good job in limiting Woltemade's space and pushing the German centre-forward back. However, with right-back Amar Dedic substituted, the defense was weakened, and the way was clear for Harvey Barnes to prove that Gordon is not the manager's only goal-scoring winger.
Newcastle's double substitution was already proving effective by the time Pope sent a wonderful throw in the substitute's direction. When Antonio Silva, on this occasion, misjudged the flight, Barnes was clear, accelerating into the area before maintaining impressive composure to fire a sublime strike past Trubin.
After Harvey Barnes rolled a low effort through unfortunate the goalkeeper's feet after meeting Anthony Gordon's excellent pass, it was all over. The Benfica manager had warned that the Magpies have several very fast wide attackers, and three goals from a pair of wide men had destroyed his hopes of securing Benfica's first Champions League points of the season.
