Newcastle United secured a 3–2 victory over Qarabağ FK in the return leg of the UEFA Champions League play-offs at St James’ Park.
Sandro Tonali opened the scoring in the fourth minute, reacting quickly to a rebound from a saved header. Just two minutes later, Joelinton doubled the hosts’ advantage with a volley from Harvey Barnes’ cross.
Qarabağ responded in the 51st minute through Camilo Durán, but Newcastle restored their two-goal lead immediately with Sven Botman’s strike in the 52nd minute. The visitors scored again in the 57th minute via Elvin Jafarguliyev, while Marko Janković’s penalty in the same minute was saved by goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Despite the scoreline, Qarabağ showed resilience and looked for counter-attacking opportunities, reflecting the quality that brought them to this stage of the competition.
While the win was not as straightforward as Newcastle might have hoped, the team secured the result they needed and now advance to a last-16 clash against either Barcelona or Chelsea. This marks Newcastle’s first-ever appearance in the Champions League last 16.
Qarabağ are led by Gurban Gurbanov, while Newcastle are managed by Eddie Howe. In the first leg on 18 February, Newcastle won 6–1 in Baku, with Anthony Gordon scoring four goals and Malick Thiaw and Jacob Murphy also on the scoresheet. Elvin Jafarguliyev scored Qarabağ’s only goal in the first leg.
The match was refereed by Davide Massa, 44, who has experience officiating Qarabağ matches, including their 2018 Europa League tie against Arsenal and a 2019 Champions League qualifier against APOEL. This season, Massa has overseen four Champions League fixtures, most recently Benfica’s 4–2 win over Real Madrid.
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