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As the Benfica manager arrived at Newcastle's stadium and complimented Newcastle's coach and his players, local fans were concerned about a difficult game. However such fears disappeared thanks to a goal from the winger and a brace from substitute the forward, ensuring Benfica's new manager did not inflict pain for Newcastle.

Game Dynamics and Early Exchanges

The Benfica boss had predicted that the home side would be extremely aggressive, but his own team showed their own aggressive style. The visitors clearly enjoyed disrupting Newcastle's early efforts to establish a fluent passing tempo.

Adding to Newcastle's issues, two midfielders, Tonali and Joelinton, started as substitutes as they continued recovering from illness and a knock respectively.

Before the start, the two managers exchanged a perfunctory, reserved greeting, and it soon became apparent that Mourinho had instructed his team to quiet the home fans by delaying Newcastle and lowering the temperature at every chance.

Critical Moments and Decisive Actions

Benfica's tactic produced mixed results, but when Gordon and the Newcastle attack managed to break through the backline, they at first found it hard to generate good opportunities.

Additionally, the Belgian winger Dodi Lukebakio almost showed how to finish when, after leaving the defender on the ground, he forced Newcastle's keeper with a tremendous shot that required an excellent one-handed stop. It's no surprise the goalkeeper retains hope for an national team recall in time for the global tournament.

Yet when the winger hit another shot off the woodwork, Newcastle roused themselves. Jacob Murphy shot wide, and Anatoliy Trubin made an impressive near-post stop from Guimaraes before Gordon finally broke the deadlock.

Gordon's blazing pace had caused problems for Mourinho all evening, and he calmly slotted the first goal past Trubin after Murphy's early ball into the area paid off.

When Newcastle's hard, pressing game was not second-guessed by the opposition, Jacob Murphy, preferred over the expensive signing, was there to deliver a low cross across the goal for Gordon to polish off.

Second Half and Match-Winning Changes

Right from the start, the Portuguese team could not be accused of parking the bus and seeking a point, but now Mourinho's players pushed forward with real freedom. The winger repeatedly showed an ability to destabilize Howe's back four, and the Magpies were likely relieved to regroup at the break.

The opening period ended with Pope again rescuing his team by diverting the attacker's left-foot around the goal frame, and as the teams came out for the next period, everything seemed finely poised.

While Anthony Gordon, evidently boosted by netting his fourth goal in three European games this campaign, played with the determination of a winger set to alter the power balance in his team's direction, the Benfica attacker had other ideas.

The manager's No 11 had previously shown that, while Burn is a capable centre-back, he is not a born left-back, and home hearts were nervous every time he advanced.

The Newcastle manager might have felt easier had Lewis Miley, filling in for Sandro Tonali, not headed a corner above the bar from a good position. Instead, this absorbing contest continued to move from one goal to the other, persuading the manager to bring on Joelinton and Barnes in place of Jacob Ramsey and Murphy.

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

Harvey Barnes Wins the Match

Until then, the away team, and especially their Portugal back Silva, had done a good job in restricting Woltemade's space and forcing Newcastle's German centre-forward deep. But now, with right-back Dedic off, the backline was weakened, and the way was open for Harvey Barnes to prove that Anthony Gordon is not the manager's only goal-scoring winger.

The home side's two changes was already paying off by the time Pope dispatched a superb throw in the substitute's path. When Antonio Silva, for once, misjudged the bounce, Barnes was away, accelerating into the penalty box before keeping impressive composure to lash a sublime shot past Trubin.

After Harvey Barnes slid a shot through poor the goalkeeper's legs after meeting Gordon's stellar pass, it was all over. Mourinho had cautioned that Newcastle have four very fast wingers, and a trio of strikes from a pair of wingers had destroyed his hopes of securing the team's first European result of the campaign.