Key events
7 min: Newcastle are carving Qarabag open. Joe Willock runs through the middle before slipping in Harvey Barnes. Barnes hits it down to the keeper’s left and it’s out for a corner.
5 min: Qarabag head the other way, working it well on the left. It rolls out to Joni Montiel but his effort is blocked and goes out for a corner.
GOAL! Qarabag 0-1 Newcastle (Gordon, 3)
Perfect start for Newcastle! Dan Burn drives with the ball and plays a pass through to Anthony Gordon. The England winger is away and cooly slots his finish past the keeper.
1 min: Harvey Barnes has the first chance of the evening, a fairly tame effort straight at the keeper.
Kick off
Newcastle get us under way, kicking from right to left.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe’s words on the eve of the match:
To get to the last 16 of this competition would be an incredible achievement and we’re trying to embrace it in that way. We’re trying to look at the excitement and the possibility rather than feel too much of the burden of the pressure of the occasion. We want to turn these moments and these games into history opportunities and into moments people talk about for a long time. There’s a real excitement with this game and the travel and the number of supporters we’re bringing, so it’d all set to be a great occasion. Then of course, we have to do our bit. We have to bring our A game, we have to approach the game the right way in terms of our attitude – I know we will – and then we have to deliver like we have in our last two away games.”
Some pre-match reading for you, before we get on to this game:
Some early scene-setting from Baku …
The teams
Qarabag: Kochalski, Matheus Silva, Mustafazade, Medina, Cafarquliyev, Pedro Bicalho, Jankovic, Andrade, Montiel, Zoubir, Duran. Subs: Ramazanov, Buntic, Mmaee, Addai, Daniel, Borges, Kashchuk, Qurbanly, Bayramov, Abbas Huseynov, Cabrayilzada, Badavi Huseynov.
Newcastle: Pope, Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Willock, Elanga, Woltemade, Barnes, Gordon. Subs: Ruddy, Ramsdale, Harris, Joelinton, Osula, Jacob Murphy, Alex Murphy, Ramsey, Shahar, Neave.
Referee: Espen Eskas (Norway).
Preamble
Hello and welcome to minute-by-minute coverage of Qarabag v Newcastle in the Champions League playoffs.
Qarabag, second in the Azerbaijan Premier League, lost 6-0 against Liverpool in their last Champions League game. The hosts don’t have a great record against English opposition, losing eight out of nine games, but they did draw against Chelsea in this season’s Champions League group stage.
Newcastle may have turned a corner after wins against Spurs and Aston Villa ended a five-match winless run. Travelling 2,529 miles away from home, Newcastle will be keen to win their first Champions League knockout game.
Kick off is at 5.45pm GMT. Join me for updates.
