Newcastle United 2-0 Athletic Bilbao: Burn and Joelinton sink Valverde's men
Newcastle United made it three wins from four in the Champions League as Athletic Bilbao were put to the sword at St. James' Park.
Dan Burn and Joelinton were on target as Newcastle United coasted to a 2-0 Champions League win over Athletic Bilbao at St. James' Park on Wednesday.
Burn's sublime header had Newcastle up and running in the first half, and Joelinton nodded in shortly after the restart as Eddie Howe's men made it nine points from a possible 12 to sit sixth in the league phase.
Joelinton had already seen a well-taken strike ruled out for offside by the time Burn met Kieran Trippier's deep free-kick with a phenomenal header that bent into the top-right corner.
Unai Gomez hit the base of the post from a tight angle before Adama Boiro leathered a wonderful effort against the left upright as Athletic sought to respond.
Nick Woltemade nodded wastefully wide, and Joelinton blasted over after being denied one-on-one as Newcastle also missed chances to double their lead.
But Joelinton made no mistake early in the second half when Barnes held up a lovely dinked cross for the Brazilian midfielder to plant a header firmly past Unai Simon.
Sven Botman was denied by Simon, and Burn fired wide as Newcastle pushed to find a final safety net, but 2-0 proved enough to see off Ernesto Valverde's side, who twice saw Nico Serrano denied by Nick Pope in a spirited late rally.
Data Debrief: Burn matches Shearer's Champions League feat
Newcastle were beaten 3-1 by West Ham on Sunday and are languishing in 13th in the Premier League, but Howe's men rebounded in fine style in Europe.
Burn got the ball rolling, and the towering defender now has two Champions League goals, both of which were scored with his head. He is only the third Newcastle player to score multiple headers in the competition, along with Alan Shearer and Faustino Asprilla (two each).
Moreover, 55% of his Newcastle goals have been assisted by Trippier (5/9), all of which have been headers. The latter has now assisted nine goals in the Champions League, the third-most by an English defender after Ashley Cole (12) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (11).
Joelinton put Newcastle in firm control after the break, and he has now scored in two of his last four starts for Newcastle in Europe's premier competition, having only scored once in his first 12 career starts in major European tournaments.
