Newcastle United took a giant stride towards the Champions League last 16 by overwhelming Qarabag 6-1 in Baku, with Anthony Gordon scoring four times in a first-half rout that all but settled this knockout play-off first leg.
Gordon's haul lifted him to 10 goals in the competition this season, second only to Kylian Mbappe in the scoring charts, while Malick Thiaw and Jacob Murphy added the other goals at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium.
A Pre-Match Warning That Proved an Understatement
Before kick-off, the Qarabag manager Gurban Gurbanov had warned that Newcastle possessed "a style of play that does not suit us". There were suggestions he was playing mind games. Long before half-time, it was apparent he had rather understated things.