Newcastle United 3-0 Benfica: Barnes stars in easy Champions League win

Harvey Barnes scored two second-half goals to help Newcastle United earn a convincing 3-0 victory over Benfica in the Champions League.

Newcastle solidified their place in the league phase of the Champions League as they recorded a second successive win in the competition.

The hosts started brightly and nearly went ahead within the first 10 minutes, but goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin made a strong save to keep out Dan Burn's header.

Benfica then created a fine opportunity to break the deadlock as Dodi Lukebakio was found in space, but he slammed his effort straight at Nick Pope.

Burn played provider later in the first half as he teed up Bruno Guimaraes with a header from a corner, but the Brazilian midfielder was also denied by Trubin.

Newcastle eventually found the breakthrough just after the half-hour mark as Jacob Murphy scampered forward down the right and squared it for Anthony Gordon to score.

Pope became an unlikely creative source as his long throw set Harvey Barnes through, and the English attacker made no mistake as he netted Newcastle's second in the 70th minute.

And, there was time for another as Nick Woltemade and Gordon combined, before the latter picked out Barnes to net his second and Newcastle's third with seven minutes left.

Data Debrief: Gordon continues Champions League scoring streak

Despite his scoring struggles domestically, with this goal, Gordon became the first Newcastle player to score in three consecutive Champions League appearances after already netting against Barcelona and Union Saint-Gilloise.

Barnes also highlighted how much of a threat he can be when coming off the bench, and he now has three goals as a substitute this season.

There will be plenty for Benfica head coach Jose Mourinho to ponder after a poor display, and the Portuguese side have now lost five matches in a row in the competition, equalling their worst run between March 2017 and September 2018. 

Newcastle finished the match with 2.81 expected goals (xG) from their 19 attempts (10 on target), while Benfica managed a measly 0.33 from seven shots (two on target).