Harvey Barnes and Anthony Gordon fired Newcastle United to an emphatic victory against Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in the Champions League.
The unmarked Gordon opened the scoring in the first half as he calmly sidefooted the ball past Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin at the back post following Jacob Murphy’s ball across.
It was Gordon’s fourth goal in just three games in the competition and gave Newcastle the platform to push for another after the break.
Barnes went on to double his side’s lead after goalkeeper Nick Pope launched an almighty 65-yard throw down the right.
Benfica defender Antonio Silva misjudged it and Barnes raced through before finishing in-off the upright.
There was still time for Barnes to add a third late on after Gordon set up his team-mate, who put the ball through Trubin’s legs.
Benfica were left to rue what might have been after the visitors twice came close to breaking the deadlock.
A strong hand from Pope denied Dodi Lukebakio at his near post before the former Watford forward struck the upright a few minutes later with a whipped effort from outside the box.
Gordon and Barnes, however, took their chances as Newcastle recorded back-to-back victories in the Champions League for the first time since 2003.
Newcastle analysis: Barnes and Gordon step up
Eddie Howe rightly wanted more.
Nick Woltemade has made an impressive start to his Newcastle career, but the German has had to shoulder the goalscoring burden very quickly since his £69m move from Stuttgart.
Woltemade has scored four of Newcastle’s past five goals in the Premier League and they needed others to step up.
In this competition, both Gordon and Barnes have done so.
After scoring his first ever Champions League goal in the 2-1 defeat against Barcelona, which ended up proving a mere consolation, Gordon followed that up with a couple of penalties in the 4-0 rout of Union Saint-Gilloise.
But this was his most crucial contribution yet.
St James’ was tense, nervy even, after Newcastle escaped a couple of scares following Lukebakio’s efforts.
But the momentum of the game and, indeed, the atmosphere changed once Gordon opened the scoring.
And what about Barnes?
Like Gordon, he has yet to find the back of the net in the Premier League this season but has also come alive in Europe, scoring three goals in three appearances.
Woltemade may have failed to find the back of the net, but it did not matter because his team-mates stepped up.
