Newcastle United Dismantle Paris Saint Germain On Big European Night At St. James' Park

In the club's first UEFA Champions League game at home since 2003, Newcastle United put on a stunning and emphatic display to beat French giants, Paris Saint Germain, 4-1, at St. James' Park on Wednesday night.

After Newcastle dug out a hard-fought 0-0 draw away to AC Milan in their first group game, there was an expectation that Eddie Howe's men would let the shackles off in the club's first home game in their long-awaited return to the Champions League. The pumped-up home crowd were not to be disappointed as the Magpies started quickly and found themselves a goal up after 17 minutes thanks to a smart finish from Miguel Almiron.

Kylian Mbappe and his Paris Saint Germain teammates looked shellshocked and overwhelmed by Newcastle's opening start with the French superstar unable to make any significant impact in the game. Then just before the break, Dan Burn leaped over Milan Skriniar to meet Bruno Guimaraes's chipped cross and double the home side's lead going into the break.

Burn's goal came after a lengthy VAR check, as the officials wanted to clear up whether Guimaraes was offside in the build-up and if Jamaal Lascelles handled the ball prior to it reaching Guimaraes.

This would have been a surreal moment for Burn as he grew up a local Newcastle fan and was once part of the club's youth set-up before being let go at the age of 11.

The second half saw Howe's men not take their foot off the gas as Sean Longstaff made a run forward from midfield to meet Kieran Trippier's pass and ultimately fire past Paris Saint Germain's goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, to put Newcastle 3-0 up after 50 minutes. Donnarumma was at fault for the goal as Longstaff's effort went in after the keeper let the ball deflect in off of his body.

Longstaff scoring was another special moment as like Burn, he grew up in the local area as a Newcastle fan and has come right through the club's academy ranks.

Despite Newcastle being near-perfect by this point in the game, they fell asleep just minutes after Longstaff's goal as Lucas Hernandez pulled one back for the Ligue 1 side. Paris Saint Germain could not add to that though as Newcastle managed the remainder of the game well.

Matters were made even better for the home side when centre-back, Fabian Schar, found himself high up the pitch and scored with a brilliant curling strike from distance in stoppage time to cap off an incredible night for Newcastle.

After the victory, Howe spoke to CBS Sports to reflect on his side's performance. He said: "We are really pleased. It was a brilliant effort from the players. It was a different game. It was a cat and mouse between the two, we were trying to press them and they were trying to play through us. We were successful a couple of times which led to big goals for us, so I am delighted with the players' commitment."

Right after the final whistle, Longstaff spoke to TNT Sports to acknowledge the occasion and how great it was for him and Burn to get on the scoresheet. He commented: "It's some night. I think we knew it was going to be special with the atmosphere but for me and Burny to score on a night like tonight is pretty surreal. I am lost for words really."

The other game in Group F saw Borussia Dortmund draw 0-0 with AC Milan, leaving Newcastle currently top of the group on four points and they are the only team with a positive goal difference. In what is perceived as the toughest and most competitive group in this season's Champions League group stage, Newcastle have shown themselves to be more than capable of facing off against some of Europe's biggest sides.

Newcastle's next game in Europe will be in three weeks' time when they face off against Borussia Dortmund at home. The Bundesliga side remain bottom of the group on just one point so they will be looking to get their campaign going at St. James' Park.

But next up for Howe and his players is a trip to West Ham United on the weekend in the Premier League. Having previously lost three straight games in the league, Newcastle seem to have rediscovered their form domestically, having won their last three Premier League games as well as knocking Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup.