04 October 2023 , 21:46
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The noise just blew everyone away - Paris Saint Germain included.
It also swept Newcastle to one of their greatest European nights at St James’ Park. They made PSG’s superstar line-up of Kylian Mbappe and co look bang average with a Champions League result no-one among the Newcastle fans in the stadium will ever forget.
You almost have to do a double take at the scoreline to believe that Newcastle, on their first home game in this competition for 20 years, destroyed one of Europe’s superpowers. Eddie Howe has taken the Toon Army on an unforgettable adventure but this night - more than any other - showed just how far they have come.
The Saudi takeover made it happen but there is still no better local hero story than Dan Burn who is the boyhood Newcastle fan who grew up idolising Alan Shearer, worked his way up through the lower leagues and was the scourge of PSG. Burn, all 6ft 7in of him, scored, battled and kept PSG’s forwards in his back pocket.
There was Bruno Guimaraes celebrating a block, Burn punching the air after a tackle and Newcastle players running themselves into the ground because it meant the world to them. After all those years of frustration and disappointment, Newcastle are living the dream and are making qualifying from the Group of Death look distinctly possible.
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PSG were disappointing but showed their quality early on as Mbappe’s cross from the left picked out Ousmane Dembele only for the France star to volley inches wide of the far post. But not once did Howe’s men look remotely intimidated by PSG’s star-studded line-up because this game was all about Newcastle’s passion and raw determination.
They played at a furious pace - roared on by the 52,009 crowd - and harried and hassled PSG into mistakes and it was the French super club who ended up looking intimidated. PSG captain Marquinhos made a poor clearance, Guimaraes headed the ball back to Alexander Isak and his shot was blocked by 'keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
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Miguel Almiron's opening goal cranked the St James' Park volume up to 11 (Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)But the ball fell to Miguel Almiron and he smashed home on the follow-up with a brilliant shot into the far corner. The noise and sense of disbelief was overwhelming. What a moment. The pressure told again after 39 minutes. Guimaraes pulled back a cross from the by-line, Burn rose and headed in from point blank range.
It was clearly over the line before Donnarumma clawed it back but the celebrations were put on hold while they checked for an offside. When Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs finally gave a goal the roof came off the place again. You might have thought PSG boss Luis Enrique would inspire some sort of second half fightback. But it was Newcastle who came again.
Mbappe looked disinterested and did not chase back, Kieran Trippier played in Sean Longstaff and his shot went through Donnarumma for 3-0. PSG at last showed some spirit. Warren Zaire-Emery’s ball over the top found Lucas Hernandez who headed past Nick Pope to give the visitors hope.
Again, it was checked for offside but UEFA use semi-automated offside technology which must surely be introduced into the Premier League next year after this week’s VAR shambles. Newcastle had put so much energy into their performance, they tired towards the end but still had energy for one more moment of magic.
Fabian Schar won a sliding tackle, played a one-two with Jacob Murphy and then the Newcastle defender curled a brilliant shot into the top corner. What a fitting way to end the night.