After running riot in Baku last Wednesday, Newcastle’s place in the Champions League Round of 16 was all but secured. The second leg still needing to be contested, the Magpies would not be blamed for going through the motions at St James’ Park.
However, this was far from the case for Eddie Howe’s men and with the Newcastle boss naming a stronger team then perhaps expected, he would oversee a second successive win over Qarabag in as many weeks.
The margin of victory much narrower than six days prior when Anthony Gordon helped himself to four of Newcastle’s six goals on the night - the former Everton forward stood down to the bench for the return tie.
No Gordon in the starting eleven, perhaps an opportunity for Nick Woltemade to return to the centre of the Newcastle attack? No, the German international forward having to play his part further back, another 90 minutes in midfield for the ex-Stuttgart player.
Perhaps an issue for the player himself but not an issue for the team as a whole, supporters happy that another win has been chalked up. If this keeps happening, players playing out of position will be of far less consequence than if Newcastle were losing instead.
While their tie with Qarabag became of even lesser consequence by the sixth minute of Tuesday night’s encounter. Sandro Tonali opening the scoring two minutes before with a close-range effort, Joelinton doubled Newcastle’s advantage with a similar looking strike moments later.
The aggregate score now 8-1 at this stage, the Magpies earning every right to go down through the gears as the tie become nothing more than processional at this point. Subsequently, this gave Qarabag an opportunity to finally shine.
Five minutes after the restart Camilo Duran halved the deficit on the night, his burst of pace leaving Dan Burn behind before the Colombian coolly slotted past Aaron Ramsdale – the travelling support now given something to shout about.
That shouting would have been silenced just two minutes later, Newcastle restoring their two-goal advantage thanks to Sven Botman. The Dutch defender nodding home from Kieran Trippier’s perfectly measured corner. 3-1 to the hosts. 9-2 on aggregate if you are keeping count.
That however was not the end of the scoring for the night or the tie as Qarabag earned a final consolation before their Champions League exit. Dan Burn not having the best of nights as he was judged to have handled in the box.
A penalty to the visitors and although Newcastle’s deputy keeper Ramsdale was on hand to initially save Marko Jankovic’s effort from 12 yards, Elvin Cafarguliyev reacted the quickest from the rebound. His finish making it 3-2 on the night, 9-3 as the final aggregate score.
A professional job from Eddie Howe’s men across both legs but now the difficulty curve becomes far greater in the Round of 16. Either Barcelona or Chelsea in the knockout bracket, Friday’s draw will reveal their destination.
See the final match stats and watch the highlights of Newcastle vs Qarabag FK.
