Anthony Gordon, a forward for Newcastle United, has achieved the distinction of being only the second individual to net four times during the initial half of a UEFA Champions League match, and notably, the inaugural player to accomplish this feat within the knockout phase.
The English national team member’s unprecedented scoring accomplishment propelled the Magpies to a dominant 6-1 victory against FK Qarabag of Azerbaijan in the opening leg of their playoff round encounter.
Gordon’s three goals, netted within a mere 33 minutes, represented the quickest hat-trick ever recorded by an English participant in the Champions League, bringing his total count in the tournament to ten successful strikes.
He ranks as merely the third player from Newcastle to achieve a hat-trick performance in the Champions League, and the initial one to accomplish it during the elimination stages.
Gordon initiated the scoring in Baku within the third minute; subsequently, Malick Thiaw extended the Premier League club’s advantage five minutes later. Following a successful penalty conversion in the 32nd minute, Gordon proceeded to circumvent the opposing custodian, finalizing his hat-trick — a debut for his professional career — in less than sixty seconds thereafter.
The player, previously associated with Everton, subsequently concluded a remarkable first half for both himself and his squad by successfully converting a second penalty kick during added time.
Of English players participating in the Champions League, merely Harry Kane, with eleven goals, has surpassed Gordon’s seasonal goal count.
The twenty-four-year-old athlete has already significantly surpassed the prior record set by Newcastle icon Alan Shearer for the highest number of goals in a solitary Champions League campaign, a record previously holding at six.
Gordon did not augment his goal total during the subsequent half, while Elvin Cafarquliyev managed to reduce the deficit for Qarabag, a team that emerged as one of the unexpected narratives of this Champions League season subsequent to their playoff qualification.
However, Jacob Murphy’s deflected shot finalized the overwhelming victory, marking the first occasion Newcastle netted six goals in European competition across their 149 games played.
Manager Eddie Howe’s squad is set to host Qarabag at St James’ Park the following Tuesday, with the strong presumption that they are virtually guaranteed a spot in the round of sixteen against either Barcelona or their Premier League adversaries, Chelsea.
This article received contributions from ESPN Research, PA, and The Associated Press.
