Newcastle complete victory over Qarabag to make Champions League last 16 | OneFootball

Eddie Howe guided Newcastle into the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time as they sealed their passage from the play-offs with an entertaining 3-2 home victory over Qarabag.

The tie was effectively over before a ball was kicked at St James’ Park after last week’s 6-1 first leg win in Baku, and it certainly was within six minutes of kick-off thanks to quickfire goals from Sandro Tonali and Joelinton.

Camilo Duran and Elvin Jafarguliyev scored either side of Sven Botman’s second-half header to make thinks interesting, but ultimately the Magpies progressed 9-3 on aggregate.

In the process, they ensured that the Premier League will have six representatives in the next round, with Howe’s men joining Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham on the big stage.

Either the Blues or Barcelona will be heading for Tyneside next month before Newcastle, who handed a first senior start to 21-year-old defender Alex Murphy, travel to south-west London or Catalonia with a place in the quarter-final at stake.

Howe had revealed in the run-up to the game that reaching the knockout stage proper had been the club’s principal objective for the campaign, but now that they are there, they will not be satisfied simply to be taking part and will have their sights set on even bigger things.

The foundation for the Magpies’ demolition job in Azerbaijan were the two goals they scored inside the opening eight minutes, and a much-changed side needed only six in which to repeat the feat on their own pitch.

Tonali fired home the opener with five minutes gone after Dan Burn’s shot had been blocked and Will Osula’s header repelled by goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski.

And the game was only a few seconds older when Joni Montiel had his pocket picked and Harvey Barnes crossed for Joelinton to volley emphatically past Kochalski.

The visitors gradually started to string passes together as they capitalised on Newcastle’s growing wastefulness in possession, Jafarguliyev forcing Aaron Ramsdale into his first save from a tight angle on the half-hour mark.

Kochalski, Qarabag’s best player by a distance last week, clawed Botman’s header from a 41st-minute Kieran Trippier corner out of his corner, sparking a breaking which resulted in Ramsdale tipping Duran’s well-struck shot over his crossbar, but the home side went in at the break with a 2-0 lead.

The visitors who reduced the deficit with 51 minutes gone when Joni cleverly flicked Duran into space and he ran away from Burn before shooting firmly past Ramsdale, although the two-goal margin was restored within seconds when Botman headed in Trippier’s corner.

However, Qarabag struck again when, after Pedro Bicalho’s cross had hit the sliding Burn’s arm, Ramsdale saved Marko Jankovic’s 57th-minute penalty only for Jafarguliyev’s follow-up to go in off Jacob Murphy.

Ramsdale made a fine save to prevent Abdellah Zoubir from levelling on the night and as the game developed into something of a free for all, both sides had chances to add to their tally, but failed to do so.