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When Jose Mourinho came at St James' Park and complimented Eddie Howe and his squad, home fans were concerned about a difficult game. However such fears disappeared thanks to a strike from the winger and two more from substitute the forward, making sure Benfica's coach would not cause any trouble for Howe's team.

Match Dynamics and Initial Exchanges

Mourinho had predicted that the home side would be very physical, but his Benfica players showed their similar combative style. Benfica clearly enjoyed disrupting the Magpies' early efforts to build a fluent attacking rhythm.

Compounding Newcastle's issues, two players, Tonali and Joelinton, started on the bench as they were recovering from sickness and a knock respectively.

Before the start, the coaches shared a perfunctory, reserved greeting, and it quickly became clear that Mourinho had told his team to subdue the crowd by delaying Newcastle and reducing the temperature whenever possible.

Key Events and Decisive Actions

The visitors' tactic yielded mixed outcomes, but when Gordon and his teammates succeeded to dismantle Benfica's backline, they at first found it hard to create clear opportunities.

Additionally, the Belgium attacker Lukebakio almost demonstrated how to finish when, after leaving Dan Burn behind, he forced Nick Pope with a tremendous shot that required an excellent one-handed stop. It's no surprise the goalkeeper still hopes for an national team recall in time for the global tournament.

But when Lukebakio directed a further attempt off the post, the home side roused themselves. Jacob Murphy shot wide, and Anatoliy Trubin made an excellent close-range save from Bruno Guimaraes before Anthony Gordon at last broke the scoreless tie.

The England winger's blazing pace had created consternation for the Benfica coach all night, and he neatly slotted the first goal past Trubin after his teammate's early cross into the box paid off.

When the Magpies' hard, pressing game was not anticipated by the opposition, Murphy, preferred over the expensive signing, was available to pass a ground ball across the face of goal for Gordon to polish off.

Second Half and Match-Winning Substitutions

From the beginning, Benfica could not be blamed of defending deeply and playing for a draw, but now Mourinho's players attacked with total abandon. The winger repeatedly showed an skill to destabilize Newcastle's back four, and the home team were likely grateful to reset at half-time.

The opening period ended with the keeper once more rescuing his side by tipping the attacker's left-foot around the post, and as the teams emerged for the next period, the match seemed finely balanced.

While Gordon, clearly buoyed by netting his fourth strike in three Champions League appearances this campaign, played with the zeal of a winger set to shift the balance in Newcastle's favor, Lukebakio had other ideas.

Mourinho's No 11 had already shown that, while Burn is a capable central defender, he is not a natural full-back, and home hearts were in mouths every time he moved forward.

The Newcastle manager might have relaxed had Miley, filling in for Tonali, not headed a set-piece above the bar from a well-placed position. Rather, this thrilling contest continued to move from end to end, persuading Newcastle's coach to bring on the midfielder and Barnes in place of Jacob Ramsey and Jacob Murphy.

Mourinho, at the same time, brought on an extra striker in Ivanovic. It would perhaps prove a gamble too far.

Barnes Seals the Match

Before that, Benfica, and especially their Portugal defender Silva, had performed a good job in limiting Woltemade's room and forcing Newcastle's Germany centre-forward deep. However, with right-back Dedic substituted, the defense was weakened, and the path was open for Harvey Barnes to show that Gordon is not the manager's only attacking winger.

Newcastle's two changes was already proving effective by the time Pope sent a superb long throw in Barnes's path. When Silva, for once, misjudged the flight, Barnes was clear, accelerating into the penalty box before maintaining impressive poise to fire a sublime strike past the keeper.

When Harvey Barnes rolled a shot through unfortunate the goalkeeper's feet after receiving Anthony Gordon's stellar through ball, it was all over. Mourinho had cautioned that the Magpies have several very fast wingers, and three goals from a pair of wide men had shattered his hopes of securing Benfica's first European result of the season.