Newcastle United kick-started their Champions League campaign with an impressive 4-0 win away at Union Saint-Gilloise on Wednesday.
The Magpies fell 2-1 at home to Barcelona thanks to a Marcus Rashford brace in the first round of matches in September, meaning a quick recovery was paramount.
First-half goals from Nick Woltemade and Anthony Gordon — the latter from the penalty spot — put Eddie Howe’s men in command, while Gordon converted another penalty after the break. Newcastle applied some gloss in the final 10 minutes as substitute Harvey Barnes finished a sweeping counter-attack.
- This was Newcastle United’s biggest-ever win in the Champions League.
The result also ended a run of three games without a win against a top-flight side across all competitions and was just the third time they’ve scored more than once in a single match all season.
There’s now a 20-day wait before Newcastle host Benfica in what could prove a vital showdown in the battle to make the Champions League knockout rounds. For now, let’s pick the bones of this victory away at the Belgian champions.
How did Newcastle United beat Union SG?
Anthony Elanga announces himself
While it was Woltemade and Gordon who scored the goals, Anthony Elanga was arguably the most dominant performer of the night in Newcastle’s starting front three.
The Swedish winger has come in for a bit of criticism recently after struggling to hit his stride following an expensive summer move from Nottingham Forest.
But on Wednesday, he tore Union SG’s left flank to shreds.
Elanga attempted three dribbles on the night, and while he was only successful with one of them, his directness was menacing and kept Ousseynou Niang and Fedde Leysen very honest. One of those runs at the backline paid dividends with a foul that allowed Gordon to convert his first spot-kick of the night in Brussels — one of three fouls won on the night.
The 23-year-old wasn’t shy of crossing, either, attempting five of them and allowing the giant Woltemade to cause havoc inside the Union SG box.
Alongside his penalty won, Elanga was credited with creating one big chance, while he chipped in defensively with a tackle, block and clearance, as well as six recoveries.
This is what Newcastle signed Elanga to do, and it was a mouth-watering glimpse of what he and his attacking counterparts are capable of if things click soon.
| Stat | Anthony Elanga |
| Crosses attempted | 5 |
| Dribbles attempted | 3 |
| Penalties won | 1 |
| Big chances created | 1 |
| Ground duels won | 5/9 (56%) |
High line suffocates Union SG
Union SG terrorised Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven during their 3-1 win to kick off the group stage. The key facet of that historic Champions League debut victory was the pace of their forward line, with the likes of Promise David and Kevin Rodriguez catching Peter Bosz’s men out time and again.
Howe was in no mood to see his side suffer the same fate. But rather than drop off to deny space behind the backline, Newcastle actually pushed their line higher.
It was a risky ploy, but one that ultimately paid off.
Union SG are very direct side, preferring to move the ball quickly through the lines rather than build attacks with patience.
However, Newcastle’s press consistently cut off passing lanes and quick progressions forward, instead forcing them to try and play David and Rodriguez behind early.
Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman had the pace to deal with that the majority of the time, and on the few occasions Union SG’s forwards thought they were in, they had so much ground to cover that they either lost composure as they raced toward goal, or were caught by recovering black and white shirts.
Defending hasn’t necessarily been a problem for Newcastle this season, but it was great to see Howe and his players execute a plan tailored for such a specific opponent.
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The legend of Tonali
Commentating on the match live for TNT Sports, former Premier League midfielder Steve Sidwell claimed that Sandro Tonali is developing into a ‘legend’ for Newcastle United.
That may be a bold claim, but there’s no denying he’s incredibly popular among supporters, and nights like this prove exactly why.
With and without the ball, the Italy international was the conductor at the heart of a brilliant Newcastle performance.
Tonali completed a match-high 65 passes in Brussels at an 89% success rate, while he drove the ball forward whenever he saw empty grass in front of him — an 88th-minute charge upfield was particularly eye-catching, with the midfielder bounding up the pitch as if it were the opening play of the match. He was everywhere.
It was Tonali’s strike that hit Woltemade to open the scoring, going down as an assist rather than his goal — only denied again at the end of the match by a good save from Kjell Scherpen.
But that didn’t matter; it was just another contribution to a mesmerising performance that also yielded a whopping 90 touches of the ball, seven passes into the final third, four of eight duels won, four recoveries, and one tackle and clearance.
Again, to call Tonali a Newcastle ‘legend’ at this point feels premature, even if he is a trophy-winner. But it’s European performances like this — a captain’s showing without the armband — that start to build legends.
If Tonali doesn’t hold that status yet, he’s well on his way toward claiming it.