Anthony Gordon joins Harry Kane in exclusive Champions League club after latest Newcastle goals

Given Newcastle's patchy form throughout the 2025-26 season so far, Wednesday's trip to Azerbaijan was expected to be a somewhat tricky one as the Magpies looked to make a strong start to their knockout round play-off.

However, the first half turned out to be a complete procession for the visitors, who took the lead in the third minute when Gordon got his first of the night with a well-taken finish. Malick Thiaw soon headed in another to make it 2-0 before the hosts crumbled just before the half-hour mark.

Gordon confidently dispatched a 32nd-minute penalty and then ran clean through to finish mere moments later, taking the scoreline up to 4-0. Howe's side were then gifted another spot-kick, with Gordon again stepping up and finding the back of the net past beleaguered goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski.

After the break, Elvin Jafarquliyev pulled one back for Qarabag, before Jacob Murphy added the final goal of the evening as Newcastle ran out 6-1 winners.

Thanks to his goalscoring exploits, Gordon has now joined England captain Kane in an exclusive club when it comes to strikes in Europe. Kane became the first English player ever to score nine or more goals in a single Champions League season when he bagged 11 times last term, but Gordon is now part of that clique thanks to his efforts on Wednesday night. While the 24-year-old has found life difficult in the Premier League this season, striking just three times, it's been a completely different story in continental fixtures.

The former Everton star started by scoring in Newcastle's 2-1 defeat to Barcelona and followed that up with a brace in the 4-0 thumping of Union Saint-Gilloise and another goal in a straightforward 3-0 success against Benfica.

After a two-game barren run, Gordon bagged in back-to-back matches against Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven but didn't find the back of the net during his 23-minute cameo off the bench in the 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-German in Newcastle's final league phase match.

Thanks to all those efforts, Gordon has also broken Alan Shearer's record for most Champions League goals in a season for the Magpies and most by an Englishman for an English club in one campaign ever. 

He is also just the second player in Champions League history to score four goals in the first half of a game, with Luiz Adriano being the first thanks to a clinical display for Shakhtar Donetsk against BATE Borisov in October 2014.

Following their demolition of Qarabag, Newcastle are now extremely well placed to reach the last 16 of the Champions League, even with the return leg still to be played. They will have to be at their best again in the next round, assuming they complete the job, as they will take either Chelsea or Barcelona for a place in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, the upcoming weekend will see Newcastle return to the Premier League as they look to improve on their current position of tenth place. They have a tough assignment, however, with Pep Guardiola's Manchester City waiting at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday night. Newcastle have an awful record away at City, with their last win there coming all the way back in 2014 in a 2-0 League Cup victory. Their last Premier League triumph was in 2000, when Shearer scored the only goal of the game.