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37 min: Woltemade is playing excellently in the no.10 position. He does well to hold onto the ball and manoeuvre past a couple of Qarabag defenders.
36 min: It’s a total mismatch. Qarabag’s defending, particularly for the last goal, has been terrible.
GOAL! Qarabag 0-4 Newcastle (Gordon, 34)
Hat-trick for Anthony Gordon! Almost immediately after the restart, Woltemade wins the ball back. He pokes a lazy ball over the top to Gordon, who beats Kevin Medina to the ball. Gordon is through on goal and rounds the keeper before tapping it in to an empty net.
GOAL! Qarabag 0-3 (Gordon, 32)
Great penalty from Gordon. The winger smashes the ball to the left, past the outstretched hand of Kochalski.
Penalty to Newcastle
The referee has given it.
29 min: There’s a VAR check for a potential penalty. Barnes takes a shot on goal and the ball strikes Chris Kouakou’s hand as he tries to make a block. I’m not really sure what the defender is supposed to do.
27 min: What a save! Willock lifts it to Barnes, who brings it down and lays the ball off to Gordon. Again, Gordon is 1v1 with the keeper. He tries to poke it past the keeper but Kochalski gets down well.
24 min: How has he missed that? Woltemade starts the move off with some quick feet. Then Tonali picks it up on the left before passing to Gordon in the middle. Gordon slips it through to Barnes, who is clean through on goal, but he can’t beat the keeper with his finish.
20 min: We have a short break in play as one of the Qarabag players is down. Gurban Gurbanov is having strong words with his team.
19 min: Lewis Hall whips a free kick towards goal but Mateusz Kochalski punches the ball out.
17 min: Newcastle have had eight attempts on goal already!
15 min: Nick Woltemade does well to win the ball off a Qarabag midfielder. Newcastle’s big man plays a ball in behind to Gordon who dances this way and that in front of the defenders before cutting the ball back to Barnes. Barnes meets it on the edge of the box but drags his shot just wide.
14 min: Newcastle are getting chance after chance. Gordon runs through the heart of the defence but hits his effort straight at the keeper.
13 min: Lovely one-two between Barnes and Willock, who have combined brilliantly so far. The Qarabag defenders manage to block the ball.
12 min: Newcastle are pressing high. How many goals will they score tonight?
GOAL! Qarabag 0-2 Newcastle (Thiaw, 8)
It’s too easy. Newcastle carry out a well worked corner kick routine, rolling it across the edge of the area. Qarabag clear but it’s only as far as Kieran Trippier who whips in a cross to the back post. Malick Thiaw rises highest and nods the ball into the back of the net.
7 min: Newcastle are carving Qarabag open. Joe Willock runs through the middle before slipping in Harvey Barnes. Barnes hits it down to the keeper’s left and it’s out for a corner.
5 min: Qarabag head the other way, working it well on the left. It rolls out to Joni Montiel but his effort is blocked and goes out for a corner.
GOAL! Qarabag 0-1 Newcastle (Gordon, 3)
Perfect start for Newcastle! Dan Burn drives with the ball and plays a pass through to Anthony Gordon. The England winger is away and cooly slots his finish past the keeper.
1 min: Harvey Barnes has the first chance of the evening, a fairly tame effort straight at the keeper.
Kick off
Newcastle get us under way, kicking from right to left.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe’s words on the eve of the match:
To get to the last 16 of this competition would be an incredible achievement and we’re trying to embrace it in that way. We’re trying to look at the excitement and the possibility rather than feel too much of the burden of the pressure of the occasion. We want to turn these moments and these games into history opportunities and into moments people talk about for a long time. There’s a real excitement with this game and the travel and the number of supporters we’re bringing, so it’d all set to be a great occasion. Then of course, we have to do our bit. We have to bring our A game, we have to approach the game the right way in terms of our attitude – I know we will – and then we have to deliver like we have in our last two away games.”
Some pre-match reading for you, before we get on to this game:
Some early scene-setting from Baku …
The teams
Qarabag: Kochalski, Matheus Silva, Mustafazade, Medina, Cafarquliyev, Pedro Bicalho, Jankovic, Andrade, Montiel, Zoubir, Duran. Subs: Ramazanov, Buntic, Mmaee, Addai, Daniel, Borges, Kashchuk, Qurbanly, Bayramov, Abbas Huseynov, Cabrayilzada, Badavi Huseynov.
Newcastle: Pope, Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Willock, Elanga, Woltemade, Barnes, Gordon. Subs: Ruddy, Ramsdale, Harris, Joelinton, Osula, Jacob Murphy, Alex Murphy, Ramsey, Shahar, Neave.
Referee: Espen Eskas (Norway).
Preamble
Hello and welcome to minute-by-minute coverage of Qarabag v Newcastle in the Champions League playoffs.
Qarabag, second in the Azerbaijan Premier League, lost 6-0 against Liverpool in their last Champions League game. The hosts don’t have a great record against English opposition, losing eight out of nine games, but they did draw against Chelsea in this season’s Champions League group stage.
Newcastle may have turned a corner after wins against Spurs and Aston Villa ended a five-match winless run. Travelling 2,529 miles away from home, Newcastle will be keen to win their first Champions League knockout game.
Kick off is at 5.45pm GMT. Join me for updates.
