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eddie howe expectations newcastle Can back up your 3-0 Champions League A similar performance in the home matches led to a win over Benfica.
The Magpies secured their second win in the competition with a comprehensive win against Jose Mourinho’s Portuguese side Anthony Gordon Opened the scoring before the substitutes harvey barnes Hit twice.
The win follows a disappointing defeat to Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday, and after this weekend’s home clash with Fulham, a Carabao Cup tie with Tottenham and a trip to West Ham, Howe is hopeful his team can continue their European form.
He said: “It was definitely not an easy game. They have a manager who has been there and done everything in the game.
“We knew today was a tough game and the pressure was on us, especially after Saturday’s result. We had to handle it.
“That’s why the win and the way we won was really pleasing and hopefully we can take that into our next few games because we’ll need to back that up.
“One game in isolation in the Champions League means nothing. Now it’s all about the next few games.”
Newcastle took the lead when Gordon scored just after the half-hour mark from Jacob Murphy’s cross.
Barnes then came off the bench and doubled Newcastle’s lead after running on and slotting home an incredible throw from Nick Pope launched into the Benfica half.
He then sealed the win with seven minutes of normal time remaining after good link-up play between Gordon and Nick Voltemed beat goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin.
Newcastle have scored eight goals in three Champions League matches and seven goals in eight Premier League matches.
In the Champions League, Gordon has four goals while Barnes has taken his tally to three, but has not scored any in the Premier League this season.
Howe said: “It’s a head-scratcher for me too. We know his qualities, we know he’s a goalscorer.
“We know what good players they are, and the same applies to some other good players in our team.
“Everyone is pointing to the fact that we are not scoring enough in the Premier League, but when you look at us playing like this, how we attacked and how many chances we created, it becomes difficult for us to do the job.
“All we can do is return to the Premier League with the same attitude. If the attitude is there, the quality will show.”
The defeat was Benfica’s third consecutive defeat in the Champions League and boss Mourinho admitted Newcastle’s second goal had put the game away.
He said: “He brought his enthusiasm into the set-piece, which is normal.
“When you have a team of giants, you know that every set-piece, throw in, lateral free-kick, corner, you know it is a dramatic moment for the opponent and this was the only moment where they brought that excitement and that pressure on the opponent.
“We felt very comfortable in the first half. In the second half, the second goal finished the game and after that, it was easy to play for Newcastle, easy for the fans to enjoy.”