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When Burn\u2019s goal was given \u2013 following a three-minute wait for VAR to take its course \u2013 it produced the sight of the giant stood, arms outstretched like the Angel of the North, accepting the acclaim of his people; a season ticket-holder when Newcastle were last in the Champions League, a scorer now, he finds himself with a place alongside Tino Asprilla in Toon folklore. They have decorated such occasions.<\/p>\n
There have been no European nights on Tyneside for a decade, relatively few great ones in total. But the first Champions League game staged at St James\u2019 Park since 2003 saw a Barcelona team featuring Luis Enrique beaten and the first for 20 years saw a Paris Saint-Germain side managed by Luis Enrique defeated. And, in each case, overwhelmed at times. PSG were overrun and overcome.<\/p>\n
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The noise was unrelenting, the atmosphere an asset to Eddie Howe\u2019s team. Manchester City fans may boo the Champions League anthem but their Newcastle counterparts cheered it. It had not been heard at St James\u2019 Park for two decades. Newcastle savoured the sound and created plenty of their own. Anthony Gordon turned cheerleader, gesturing to the crowd to raise the volume levels still further when he hunted down Marquinhos near the corner flag. Bruno Guimaraes celebrated an interception with an intensity often reserved for a goal.<\/p>\n
The actual strikes themselves scarcely met with silence. Almiron got Newcastle\u2019s first Champions League goal since Alan Shearer scored against Internazionale in San Siro in 2003 before, with Shearer watching, a younger generation of Geordies took over.<\/p>\n
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The manner of the first was significant. PSG were harried into mistakes. Marquinhos gifted possession with an attempt to chip a pass, Alexander Isak swivelled to shoot and while Gianluigi Donnarumma saved, Almiron dispatched the rebound past him.<\/p>\n
Yet the second produced the night\u2019s abiding images: first in the execution, then the celebration. After Guimaraes\u2019 shot from an acute angle was blocked, the Brazilian crossed and Milan Skriniar looked too intimidated to jump as, flying above him to head in despite Donnarumma\u2019s desperate attempt to claw the ball back, was Burn. Feel the Burn? Skriniar was too scared to try.<\/p>\n
A three-minute VAR check \u2013 for offside against Guimaraes, and for a possible handball against Jamaal Lascelles \u2013 brought a delayed celebration for Newcastle and a roar when Burn was announced as the scorer.<\/p>\n
There was, too, a combination of a chorus and a context that would have long seemed utterly unrealistic, with supporters chorusing that Longstaff was one of their own after he gave his side a 3-0 lead against one of the European elite. Donnarumma, blameless before then, was exposed and then embarrassed, the player of Euro 2020 allowing Longstaff\u2019s shot to slip under him after the excellent Almiron found the relentless midfielder. He was not alone: victory was forged in the sweat of non-stop running.<\/p>\n
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PSG had been left short-staffed in midfield by Luis Enrique\u2019s decision to play 4-2-4. There may have been a logic; could Lascelles stop both Randal Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos, the \u20ac160m double act? Oddly, the answer came in the affirmative. PSG nevertheless should have led when Dembele volleyed wide in the third minute. Instead, Newcastle were denied a fifth consecutive clean sheet: not by Mbappe or the star-studded forward line but by Lucas Hernandez, who ghosted in to head home Warren Zaire-Emery\u2019s chip.<\/p>\n
Yet if he proved Burn was not the game\u2019s only goalscoring left-back, the night\u2019s best strike was saved for the end. Schar won the ball high up the pitch, swapped passes with the Newcastle supporter Jacob Murphy, and curled a shot into the top corner. It was the kind of finish Mbappe might be expected to provide but it came from a Newcastle centre-back. It was that kind of night.<\/p>\n