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As Jose Mourinho arrived at Newcastle's stadium and praised Newcastle's coach and his players, local supporters were concerned about a difficult game. However such fears vanished thanks to a strike from Anthony Gordon and a brace from replacement Harvey Barnes, ensuring Benfica's new manager would not cause pain for Howe's team.

Game Flow and Initial Exchanges

The Benfica boss had predicted that the home side would be very physical, but his own team displayed their similar aggressive style. Benfica certainly enjoyed disrupting the Magpies' initial efforts to establish a fluent passing tempo.

Compounding Newcastle's issues, two players, Tonali and Joelinton, started as substitutes as they continued recovering from sickness and injury each.

Prior to the start, the coaches shared a brief, cool greeting, and it soon became apparent that Mourinho had instructed his team to subdue the home fans by delaying Newcastle and reducing the temperature whenever possible.

Critical Events and Turning Points

Benfica's strategy produced varied outcomes, but when Gordon and his teammates managed to dismantle Benfica's defensive barricades, they at first struggled to create good opportunities.

Moreover, the Belgium winger Lukebakio almost demonstrated how to finish when, after leaving Dan Burn on the ground, he forced Nick Pope with a tremendous strike that got an excellent one-handed save. No wonder Pope 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 woke up. Murphy fired off target, and Anatoliy Trubin made an impressive near-post save from Guimaraes before Gordon finally broke the scoreless tie.

The England winger's scorching speed had caused problems for Mourinho all night, and he neatly slotted the opener past Trubin after his teammate's early ball into the box paid off.

On the occasion Newcastle's hard, pressing game was not anticipated by the opposition, Murphy, chosen over £55m Anthony Elanga, was there to pass a low cross across the goal for Gordon to polish off.

Later Stages and Decisive Changes

From the beginning, the Portuguese team could not be blamed of defending deeply and seeking a point, but now Mourinho's players pushed forward with real freedom. Lukebakio consistently showed an skill to destabilize Newcastle's back four, and the home team were probably relieved to regroup at half-time.

The first half concluded with Pope once more saving his side by diverting Lukebakio's left-foot wide of the goal frame, and as the teams emerged for the second half, the match seemed finely balanced.

While Gordon, evidently buoyed by netting his fourth goal in three European appearances this season, played with the zeal of a wide player set to alter the balance in his team's direction, Lukebakio had different plans.

Mourinho's No 11 had already shown that, while Dan Burn is a capable central defender, he is not a natural left-back, and home fans were nervous every time Lukebakio advanced.

Howe might have relaxed had Miley, deputising for Sandro Tonali, not headed a set-piece above the crossbar from a well-placed spot. Rather, this thrilling game continued to move from one goal to the other, prompting Newcastle's manager to introduce Joelinton and Harvey Barnes in place of Ramsey and Murphy.

Mourinho, at the same time, threw on an additional forward in Ivanovic. It would perhaps prove a risk too far.

Harvey Barnes Wins the Game

Until then, the away team, and in particular their Portugal defender Antonio Silva, had performed a fine job in limiting Woltemade's room and pushing Newcastle's Germany centre-forward deep. However, with right-back Dedic substituted, the backline was weakened, and the path was open for Harvey Barnes to show that Anthony Gordon is not the manager's only attacking winger.

Newcastle's double substitution was already paying off by the time the goalkeeper sent a superb long throw in Barnes's direction. When Silva, on this occasion, misjudged the bounce, the winger was away, sprinting into the penalty box before maintaining impressive poise to fire a sublime shot past the keeper.

After Harvey Barnes rolled a shot through poor Trubin's legs after meeting Gordon's stellar pass, it was all over. Mourinho had warned that Newcastle have four very fast wide attackers, and three goals from a pair of wingers had shattered his chances of earning the team's first Champions League points of the campaign.