Newcastle United placed one foot in the Champions League knockout stages with a demolition of Qarabag on Wednesday evening.
In a first half full of history-making moments, Anthony Gordon scored a Champions League hat-trick, joining only Alan Shearer and Faustino Asprilla on the list of Newcastle players to achieve that feat.
Gordon’s fourth in the closing stages of the first period even saw him become the Magpies topscorer in this competition, with centre-back Malick Thiaw scoring the other goal.
Eddie Howe’s men could have doubled their goal tally in truth after registering 18 shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes, and Gordon wasn’t the only player who made the headlines for his performance.
Dan Burn compared to Franz Beckenbauer
The tone of the match was set when Gordon raced through on goal to score within two minutes, and the 24-year-old had teammate Dan Burn to thank for his assist.
What a start for Newcastle 🔥
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 18, 2026
Anthony Gordon gives his side the lead after just two minutes!@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/W0kVds2jlg
Burn sprang out of defence like a gazelle and played a beautiful outside-of-the-foot pass into the Englishman, who made no mistake with an emphatic finish.
Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin even compared Burn’s move out of defence to arguably the greatest defender of all-time, Franz Beckenbauer.
“Dream scenario for Newcastle. What about that from Dan Burn! He gets the ball out of defence like Beckenbauer,” Nevin wrote in his BBC Sport live blog.
“Anthony Gordon doesn’t think twice, he smashes it low and across the goalkeeper.”
Known for his lanky frame and limitations in possession, the 33-year-old’s comparison to a World Cup winner – even if it was tongue-in-cheek – proves how sensational the Magpies were during their first-half demolition.
Burn’s stats vs Qarabag
Qarabag did score a consolation at the start of the second half, but Burn and the rest of the Newcastle defence had a relatively quiet night.
It says a lot when Burn and Thiaw contributed more at the top end of the pitch than they did in defence, as Nick Pope only had to pick the ball out of his net once.
| Dan Burn’s stats vs Qarabag (Sofascore) |
| 90 minutes played |
| 8 defensive contributions |
| 1 assist |
| 4 clearances |
| 2 interceptions |
| 3/5 aerial duels won |
On an exceptional Champions League night, a deflected Jacob Murphy strike rounded off the scoring in the second half as Newcastle scored six goals away from home for the first time in this competition.
