Harvey Barnes Fires Two Goals as Newcastle Defeat Portuguese Side and Mourinho

As the Benfica manager arrived at Newcastle's stadium and praised Eddie Howe and his players, local supporters feared a difficult match. But those fears vanished thanks to a goal from the winger and two more from substitute Harvey Barnes, ensuring Benfica's coach would not cause pain for Howe's team.

Game Dynamics and Early Exchanges

The Benfica boss had predicted that the home side would be extremely aggressive, but his Benfica players showed their own aggressive style. The visitors certainly enjoyed disrupting Newcastle's early attempts to establish a fluent attacking rhythm.

Adding to Newcastle's challenges, key players, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton, began as substitutes as they were recovering from illness and injury each.

Prior to kick-off, the two managers shared a perfunctory, cool greeting, and it soon became clear that Mourinho had instructed his side to subdue the crowd by delaying Newcastle and lowering the temperature at every chance.

Critical Events and Decisive Actions

Benfica's strategy produced varied results, but when Gordon and his teammates succeeded to dismantle Benfica's defensive barricades, they at first struggled to create good opportunities.

Moreover, Benfica's Belgium attacker Lukebakio nearly demonstrated how to finish when, after leaving the defender behind, he tested Nick Pope with a powerful strike that got an excellent one-handed stop. It's no surprise Pope still hopes for an national team recall in time for the global tournament.

Yet when Lukebakio hit a further shot against the woodwork, the home side roused themselves. Murphy shot wide, and Benfica's keeper made an excellent near-post stop from Guimaraes before Gordon at last opened the scoreless tie.

The England winger's scorching pace had created problems for Mourinho all night, and he calmly side-footed the first goal past Trubin after Murphy's early ball into the box paid off.

On the occasion the Magpies' intense, high press was not second-guessed by the opposition, Murphy, preferred over the expensive signing, was there to pass a ground cross across the goal for the winger to polish off.

Second Half and Decisive Substitutions

Right from the start, Benfica could not be accused of defending deeply and seeking a point, but now Mourinho's players attacked with real freedom. Lukebakio consistently showed an skill to unsettle Howe's defense, and the home team were probably grateful to regroup at the break.

The first half concluded with the keeper once more saving his team by diverting Lukebakio's left-foot around the goal frame, and as the teams emerged for the next period, the match seemed finely poised.

While Anthony Gordon, clearly buoyed by scoring his fourth strike in three European appearances this campaign, played with the determination of a wide player aiming to shift the power balance in his team's direction, Lukebakio had other ideas.

Mourinho's winger had previously shown that, while Burn is a fine centre-back, he is not a natural left-back, and Newcastle hearts were in mouths every time Lukebakio moved forward.

The Newcastle manager might have relaxed had Lewis Miley, deputising for Sandro Tonali, not headed a corner over the crossbar from a good spot. Instead, this thrilling contest continued to swing from end to end, persuading Newcastle's coach to introduce Joelinton and Barnes in place of Jacob Ramsey and Jacob Murphy.

The Benfica boss, at the same time, brought on an additional striker in Ivanovic. This would arguably prove a gamble that backfired.

Barnes Wins the Match

Before that, the away team, and especially their Portugal back Silva, had performed a good job in restricting Nick Woltemade's space and forcing Newcastle's German centre-forward back. However, with defender Dedic off, the backline was underpowered, and the way was clear for Barnes to prove that Gordon is not the manager's only attacking wide player.

The home side's two changes was already proving effective by the time Pope sent a wonderful long throw in Barnes's direction. When Antonio Silva, for once, misread the flight, Barnes was away, sprinting into the area before maintaining commendable poise to fire a sublime shot past the keeper.

When Harvey Barnes rolled a shot through unfortunate Trubin's feet after receiving Anthony Gordon's stellar pass, it was finished. The Benfica manager had cautioned that the Magpies have four very fast wide attackers, and three goals from a pair of wide men had destroyed his hopes of earning the team's first Champions League points of the campaign.