Newcastle United advanced to the Champions League last 16 with a 3–2 win over Qarabag at St James’ Park, completing a 9–3 aggregate demolition after last week’s 6–1 victory in Baku.
Eddie Howe made seven changes in the XI from the 2–1 Premier League defeat at Manchester City, but the Magpies’ were quickly in control amd were simply too much for a respectable Qarabag. Kudos to the Azerbaijani, who reached places other historically great clubs couldn’t even smell.
Sandro Tonali opened the scoring in the fourth minute, finishing a move he had initiated, and Joelinton doubled the lead two minutes later with a volley from Harvey Barnes’ cross. That was pretty much it, but welp, there were still like 85 minutes to play.
With the matchup effectively settled, Newcastle dominated possession and created further chances before halftime. Nick Woltemade operated in an advanced midfield role in his never-ending pursuit of the Woltemessi character, dropping behind William Osula, while 21-year-old Alex Murphy made his first start at left-back.
Qarabag responded after the break, when Camilo Duran cut the deficit in half at the 50th minute, bursting clear of Dan Burn before finishing past Aaron Ramsdale.
Newcastle restored their cushion two minutes later when Sven Botman headed in from Kieran Trippier’s corner.
The visitors struck again after Burn was penalised for handball. Ramsdale saved Marko Jankovic’s penalty, but Elvin Jafarguliyev converted the rebound to make it 3–2 on the night.
Despite the second-half drop in control of the game, there was no real threat to the overall outcome, and Newcastle prioritized a low effort finish ahead of the weekend as they had more than confirmed their place in Friday’s draw, where they will get either Barcelona or Chelsea over two legs in March’s Round of 16.
“I’m not very happy for the second half because we play just for the result,” Tonali said after the game. “We have to do more because these fans deserve 100 per cent in every game.”
Added Howe: “At two-nil, we probably came off the pedal. We didn’t intend to do that, but that was the natural reaction.”
Newcastle now turn their focus back to domestic action, but not before learning their last-16 tie, with the first leg scheduled for March 10 or 11. The Magpies will return to the pitch in on Saturday when they host Everton in MD28 of the Premier League campaign.
