Key stats
- Newcastle have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three games in the Champions League, a run of 328 minutes without conceding a goal.
- Joelinton has scored in two of his last four starts for Newcastle in the Champions League (two goals), after only scoring one goal in his first 12 career starts in major European competition.
- Newcastle have led at half time in each of their last three Champions League matches (going on to win the previous two); their joint-longest run in the competition, having also done so in three in a row in 2002-03.
Highlights
Analysis
Dan Burn scored the highest Flashscore rating of the match with 9.2 but Joelinton was awarded the Man of the Match after putting in a brilliant performance for the Geordies.
Match report
Questions had been asked of this Newcastle side after a limp defeat to West Ham United at the weekend, and a big UCL night on Tyneside presented an ideal opportunity for the Magpies to quickly bounce back.
They made a fast start here via an unlikely source, as Dan Burn ghosted into the box unmarked and ran onto Kieran Trippier’s free-kick, guiding a superb header past a motionless Unai Simón.
Eddie Howe’s side would have hoped to quickly build on that early opener, but their Basque visitors were in no mood to roll over. Unai Gómez and Adama Boiro both hit the woodwork in response, with the latter inches away from scoring with a thunderous left-footed strike.
However, Athletic looked susceptible to the hosts’ aerial threat, and Nick Woltemade should have taken a leaf out of Burn’s book after heading wide from Harvey Barnes’ cross.
Predictably, Newcastle’s second did come via another header – this time from Joelinton. The Brazilian met a floating ball from Barnes, which he clinically converted from close range, giving the Magpies breathing room.
That goal seemed to kick the stuffing out of a Leones side that had lost their first-half threat, with Howe’s men seemingly coasting towards a fifth straight home win across all competitions.
It was, therefore, somewhat of a surprise when Nico Serrano unleashed a long-range strike out of nowhere, which forced Nick Pope into a fine save down to his right-hand side.
There was to be no grandstand finish here though, as Newcastle secured a third win in their opening four UCL league phase matches and look in good shape to progress into the knockout stages.
Meanwhile, Ernesto Valverde’s side have endured a tough start to their campaign in Europe’s premier cup competition, with three defeats from four games played. Their record on the road is particularly troubling, having now lost five of their previous six European away games (D1).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Joelinton (Newcastle United)
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Post-match comments
Newcastle goalscorer Dan Burn was pleased with his side's positive response against Athletic Bilbao.
"It's huge," he told TNT Sports. "We said we wanted to respond. I knew we would turn up today. We controlled large parts of it. We've got nine points now.
"I've been due one for a while, and then when it came in, I decided I would head it as hard as I could. We've been working on it. We knew I'd have some space around the back. At least it was a good header.
"We had to win our home games. We were unlucky in the Barcelona one. We have some away ones coming up now."