London, Oct. 4 (EFE).- After 20 years without seeing the Champions League at St. James’ Park, Newcastle United, with Saudi money, made a big appearance in Europe with a rout of Paris Saint Germain (4-1), which disappointed once again on a great night.
Two of Newcastle’s three goals were scored by locals Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff – ‘Geordies’ as they are known – with Miguel Almirón helping to open the scoring and pave the way for the Magpies’ first European win in three years.
It was an exhibition by Newcastle, who had a poor opening day against Milan and were only saved by Nick Pope, but they improved a lot with the support of their stadium and against a PSG side who are still unable to motivate themselves in these games.
Luis Enrique’s men began with a shot in the foot, after Dembelé’s volley rattled the post and frightened the Magpies, and Marquinhos was responsible for the tension at St James’ Park with a mistake unbecoming of a player of his experience.
He tried to get the ball between a couple of players and didn’t give it enough height. Bruno Guimaraes pounced on the mistake, leaving Isak free at the penalty spot. Donnaruma saved the Swede’s volley from close range.
The rebound fell to Almirón, who curled the ball perfectly into the corner.
The Newcastle Temple erupted in celebration at this new, energetic version of a team that not so long ago was fighting to avoid relegation.
Fabian Schar made it 2-0 with a well-executed move that allowed him to shoot at will from inside the area.
The Parisians, who were missing the absent Kylian Mbappé, were only denied once in bizarre events when Donnaruma saved a low shot from Guimaraes without an angle. Still, the French defense failed to clear the ball.
Tonali played it back to the Brazilian and this time he chose to raise his head and look for the far post. There, he burrowed in to make it 3-0, but the referee waved it off for Guimaraes’ offside, only for the VAR to confirm it after a tense wait.
The PSG players began to break out in a cold sweat, and the fuss began with Luis Enrique, who could not correct the situation and saw Longstaff go through alone and make it 3-0 with a low shot.
It was another European disaster for PSG, who could only smile when Zaire-Emery, the 17-year-old boy who inspires this team, invented a chipped pass over the Newcastle defense and catalyzed Lucas Hernández’s goal of honor.
More was needed to push towards a possible draw. Newcastle, who scored the fourth in stoppage time with a great goal from Schar into the top corner, remain unbeaten after two games in Europe, with four points and leaders of Group F.
They are followed by PSG with three, Milan with two and Borussia Dortmund with one.
– See the fixture list:
4 – Newcastle United: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Lascelles, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Tonali (Anderson, midfield 65); Almirón (Murphy, midfield 71), Isak and Gordon (Targett, midfield 94).
1 – Paris Saint-Germain: Donnaruma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Skriniar, Hernandez; Dembelé, Ugarte (Vitinha, m.64), Zaire-Emery; Kolo Muani (Barloca, m.57), Ramos and Mbappé.
Goals: 1-0. Almirón, m.17, 2-0. Burn, m.39, 3-0. Longstaff, m.50, 3-1. Hernández, m.56 and 4-1. Schar, m.91.
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania) booked Guimares (m.45+7), Gordon (m.70), and Pope (m.88) for Newcastle and Hernández (m.38), Hakimi (m.42), Dembelé (m.67) and Zaire-Emery (m.82) for PSG.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the second day of Group F of the Champions League played at the St. James’ Park stadium (Newcastle). EFE
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