Newcastle dynamism shows a ‘return to best style’

Lotto Park was about to run out.

After watching the visitors defeat Union Saint-Gilloise 4-0 in Brussels, those haughty Newcastle United supporters who were present in the stands did not want to go home.

The traveling support repeatedly sung, “This is the best trip I’ve ever been on.”

Their team just had the biggest Champions League victory in years, thanks to two penalties from Anthony Gordon, two goals from Nick Woltemade, and two goals from Harvey Barnes.

When Newcastle were just recently fighting relegation, such a scenario seemed unthinkable for the Geordies.

However, Eddie Howe’s side has won the Champions League twice in the last three years.

And this was the first time the club’s players have won away from home since 2003 on a night where Howe’s players showed they belong at Europe’s elite table.

There is no reason why we can’t win games at this level away from home, according to Howe, who they should [believe]. The players and the team are ready to do that, they say.

Long before kick-off, the tone was set.

In the first few weeks of the season, Howe has changed his team while engaging in combat on a variety of fronts.

However, the fact that the Newcastle head coach only made two changes during this game, and one was made after Tino Livramento injured himself, was rather telling.

The Premier League’s joint-lowest goalscorers needed to explode.

Gordon told TNT Sports, “There hasn’t been any good football in general.” Although we have been very organized and defended, we lack that creativity. Tonight, we really wanted to put an emphasis on getting that back.

Newcastle looked set to recover from their agonizing defeat at Arsenal on Sunday, but there was certainly no way of them underestimating Union.

Although the Belgian champions may be newcomers, they did not lose any of their previous nine top-flight games when they defeated PSV in their first ever Champions League game last month.

They actually have a significantly higher coefficient than Newcastle, which is testament to Union’s recent success in European competitions.

The visitors’ continued unpunished before facing a side who had a day to recover and prepare, so it was hardly surprising.

Howe trained his side at Lotto Park on the day of the game in addition to personally reviewing his opponent, as usual.

Sebastien Pocognoli, the union manager, did not overlook that.

He said, “Sometimes, the opponent can be condescending and look down on you.” They opted not. They treated us with the utmost respect. They excelled in many ways due to their abilities and traits.

Union had six shots on target, but the visitors were brutal.

Even though Newcastle were facing a back five, they were aware that Anthony Elanga and Gordon would find room out wide, which it did.

Both of Newcastle’s opening goals were contributed by Elanga, the match’s player.

In the run-up to Sandro Tonali’s shot, Elanga sent a cross into the box after deflecting off Woltemade for Newcastle’s opener.

The visitors’ second penalty was then won by the winger, which Gordon converted.

Before substitute Barnes’ clinical breakaway goal came in, Gordon won the ball back and saved another spot-kick for Newcastle’s third goal.

Howe assumed that his team “could score at any moment.”

The head coach of Newcastle said, “We’re a progressive football team.” I don’t want our build-up phase to be overly negative or playfully. That doesn’t bring out the best in us.