Anthony Gordon Scores Four Goals, Newcastle One Step Closer to Champions League 16 English: Anthony Gordon Scores Four Goals, Newcastle One Step Closer to Champions League 16

JAKARTA - Newcastle United won big 6-1 over Qarabag in the first playoff of the Champions League at Tofiq Bahramov Republican, Thursday, February 19, 2026 early morning WIB. In that match, striker Anthony Gordon scored four goals which made Newcastle one step closer to qualifying for the last 16.

Newcastle showed that Hugo Ekitike's departure to Liverpool did not make the team lose its momentum. Now, Gordon is Newcastle's full-fledged mainstay. And, he performed optimally to bring The Magpies to a big win in the European competition.

The success of overcoming Qarabag with a large score makes Newcastle one step closer to getting a ticket to the knockout round. Although there is still one more match, the chances of qualifying are very open.

The reason is that Newcastle, who acted as hosts at St James' Park Stadium, 25 February 2026 early morning WIB. Eddie Howe's team also only needs a draw to eliminate Qarabag.

"This victory is for the team. We played very well in the first half. This could be one of our best performances after a long time. Qarabag was just unlucky to face us who played like that. They really showed their quality, but our defense was really good," said Howe as quoted by the UEFA website.

"You really don't expect to win like that. But what is really satisfying is the level of play. We played excellently to a high standard. We deserved what we hoped for in the first half. The fight is not over even though we are in a very good position," he said again.

In the match, Gordon immediately showed his sharpness. Just three minutes into the match, Gordon who received a breakthrough pass from Dan Burn successfully converted it into a goal.

The 1-0 lead through a quick goal made Newcastle even more excited. As a result, just five minutes later, Newcastle added a goal when Malick Thiaw, who received an assist from Kieran Trippier, successfully defeated goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski with a header from close range.

Newcastle went crazy after Gordon scored two consecutive goals in just one minute. He broke the opponent's goal from the penalty spot following a foul by defender Matheus Silva.

When he was about to block Harvey Barnes' shot in his own penalty area, Silva instead touched the ball so the referee pointed to the white line. Gordon finished it well so the score changed to 3-0 in the 32nd minute.

And, 60 seconds later, he scored a hat-trick after taking advantage of defender Kevin Medina's mistake and deceiving goalkeeper Kochalski before firing into an empty net. This became the fastest hat-trick made by an English player in a European competition.

Gordon completed his goal to four after finishing the second penalty in the match towards the end of the first half. The penalty was given after Kochalski knocked him down. Gordon himself then executed it.

The goal makes the 24-year-old striker have 14 goals this season, including 10 goals in the Champions League. He broke the record of Newcastle legend Alan Shearer by becoming the club's top scorer in a European competition season.

"He played really well in the first half. He put pressure right away and the goals showed how he is when he doesn't have the ball. He could have scored more goals. But his performance was really good," Howe said in praise of Gordon.

The score itself changed 5-0 when Newcastle closed the first half. The five-goal lead seemed to end the game. Newcastle itself slowed down the game when entering the second half.

However, Qarabag still struggled to score. However, their efforts to narrow the gap finally bore fruit when Elvin Jafarguliyev broke into Emiliano Martinez's goal in the 54th minute. The goal was reviewed by VAR because there was a possibility of offside. However, the result was no foul and the goal was valid and changed the score to 5-1.

It's just that The Toon Army is unstoppable. Substitute Jacob Murphy consolidated Newcastle's lead in the 72nd minute. Murphy's first goal in the Champions League brought Newcastle ahead 6-1. The score remained until the end of the match.