Barnes Fires Twice as Newcastle Defeat Benfica and Mourinho
As the Benfica manager came at Newcastle's stadium and praised Newcastle's coach and his squad, home fans were concerned about a difficult match. However those worries vanished thanks to a strike from Anthony Gordon and a brace from substitute Harvey Barnes, making sure the visitors' coach would not cause pain for Newcastle.
Match Flow and Initial Action
The Benfica boss had predicted that Newcastle would be very physical, but his Benfica players displayed their similar aggressive approach. The visitors clearly enjoyed disrupting Newcastle's initial efforts to build a fluent passing rhythm.
Compounding the home team's issues, two midfielders, Sandro Tonali and the Brazilian, started as substitutes as they continued recovering from sickness and a knock each.
Before the start, the two managers shared a perfunctory, cool greeting, and it quickly became clear that Mourinho had told his team to subdue the home fans by delaying Newcastle and reducing the temperature at every chance.
Critical Moments and Decisive Actions
The visitors' strategy yielded varied results, but when Gordon and the Newcastle attack succeeded to dismantle the defensive barricades, they at first struggled to generate clear chances.
Additionally, Benfica's Belgian attacker Lukebakio almost showed how to finish when, after beating Dan Burn on the ground, he forced Newcastle's keeper with a tremendous strike that got an terrific one-handed stop. No wonder the goalkeeper retains hope for an England return in time for the World Cup.
Yet when the winger hit another attempt off the post, the home side roused themselves. Murphy shot wide, and Anatoliy Trubin made an excellent near-post save from Bruno Guimaraes before Anthony Gordon finally opened the scoreless tie.
Gordon's scorching speed had created consternation for Mourinho all night, and he neatly side-footed the first goal past Trubin after Murphy's quick ball into the box paid off.
On the occasion Newcastle's intense, pressing game was not anticipated by Benfica, Jacob Murphy, chosen over the expensive signing, was available to pass a ground cross across the goal for Gordon to polish off.
Later Stages and Decisive Substitutions
From the beginning, Benfica could not be blamed of defending deeply and seeking a point, but now Mourinho's players pushed forward with total freedom. Lukebakio repeatedly displayed an skill to destabilize Newcastle's defense, and the Magpies were probably grateful to regroup at half-time.
The opening period concluded with the keeper once more saving his side by tipping the attacker's left-foot wide of the post, and as the teams came out for the second half, the match seemed evenly balanced.
While Gordon, clearly boosted by netting his fourth strike in three European appearances this campaign, played with the zeal of a winger set to alter the balance in Newcastle's direction, the Benfica attacker had different plans.
The manager's No 11 had already emphasized that, while Burn is a fine central defender, he is not a natural left-back, and home hearts were in mouths every time he moved forward.
The Newcastle manager might have felt easier had Lewis Miley, filling in for Sandro Tonali, not directed a corner over the crossbar from a well-placed spot. Instead, this absorbing game continued to swing from end to end, persuading Newcastle's coach to bring on the midfielder and Harvey Barnes in place of Ramsey and Jacob Murphy.
The Benfica boss, meanwhile, brought on an extra forward in Franjo Ivanovic. It would perhaps prove a gamble that backfired.
Barnes Seals the Game
Until then, Benfica, and especially their Portugal defender Antonio Silva, had performed a good job in restricting Nick Woltemade's room and pushing Newcastle's German centre-forward back. But now, with defender Dedic off, the defense was weakened, and the way was open for Barnes to show that Anthony Gordon is not the manager's only attacking wide player.
The home side's two changes was already proving effective by the time the goalkeeper sent a superb long throw in the substitute's path. When Antonio Silva, on this occasion, misread the bounce, the winger was away, accelerating into the penalty box before keeping impressive poise to lash a superb strike past the keeper.
When Harvey Barnes rolled a low effort through poor the goalkeeper's legs after receiving Anthony Gordon's stellar pass, it was all over. The Benfica manager had cautioned that the Magpies have several very fast wide attackers, and three goals from a pair of wide men had destroyed his chances of earning Benfica's first European points of the campaign.
