THE Geordie Nation had waited two decades for a night like this, so for Dan Burn what was another three minutes?
The 6ft 7in left-back, a boyhood Newcastle fan from up the coast in Blyth, suffered an agonising delay for a VAR check before he was confirmed as the unlikely scorer of his side’s crucial second goal.
That dramatic pause, for a possible handball by Jamal Lascalles and an offside check against Bruno Guimaraes, might have been a passion killer – but Burn still made the most of it, spreading his arms wide and soaking up the belated roar of a throbbing St James’ Park.
Soon after half-time, midfielder Sean Longstaff became the second local hero to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma in the Paris St Germain goal, as all of Geordie Arabia erupted with an ecstasy which pulsed against the eardrum.
As this stadium staged its first Champions League match for two decades, thanks to a deluge of oil money and the astute management of Eddie Howe, there was much that was authentically Geordie about this victory in a petrochemical derby against Qatari-owned PSG.
Burn often speaks of watching Newcastle defeat Juventus here as a kid, with defender Andy Griffin scoring the only goal.
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Here he got to live out his childhood dream of emulating Griffin as an improbable scorer against one of Europe’s elite, as Kylian Mbappe & Co were put to the sword.
Whether they named this the Group of Death because of its supposed difficulty or because of the human-rights record of these two clubs’ owners is a moot point – but Newcastle now have every chance of progressing through it to the knock-out stage.
This group has some mighty names and offers some memorable trips for the Toon Army but neither PSG, AC Milan nor Borussia Dortmund possess vintage sides right now.
And Howe’s vibrant, intelligent team are more than capable of beating all of them.
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Possessing vast Middle Eastern wealth is no guarantee of Champions League success, as PSG have long proved.
Newcastle have got so much right in two years under Howe – with Miguel Almiron, scorer of the opening goal, a long-serving player who has improved immeasurably under his current boss.
Whatever we may think about the people who bankroll these clubs, there was no lack of passion inside and outside St James’ Park, which occasionally overspilled into missile-chucking from the Parisien ultras.
Before kick-off there was a riot of black and white flags and din to befit the end of a generation’s wait for football at Europe’s top table – since a qualifying round defeat by Partizan Belgrade back in 2003.
Mbappe aside, the French club’s Galactico era is over – Lionel Messi is gone, Neymar, Marco Verratti and Gini Wijnaldum have all vacated for Saudi and in their place is a more modest, younger bunch, sitting only fifth in Ligue 1 under Luis Enrique.
Early on, Newcastle were hyped up to the eyeballs, Anthony Gordon leaping in the air and cheerleading when he had simply pressed Achraf Hakimi and conceded a goal-kick.
PSG seemed intent on trying to strut their way through the maelstrom and when Mbappe was located in space, he centred for Ousmane Dembele, who volleyed just wide of the far post.
But on 17 minutes, the volume on the amp was cranked up to 11 when Newcastle capitalised on a shocking error from PSG skipper Marquinhos.
The Brazilian attempted a clearance and a headed interception from Bruno Guimaraes fed Alexander Isak, whose shot was pushed out by Gianluigi Donnarumma, only for Almiron to lash home from an angle.
There was a raw fervour about the place now, a Burn tackle on Dembele celebrated like a winning goal as the locals whipped up a storm in the piddling rain.
Trippier took a cute corner to Fabian Schar on the edge of the box and the Swiss defender whistled a shot wide, with the Gallowgate End fleetingly imagining it to have nestled in the bottom corner.
There was a scare for Howe when Isak suffered a gashed forehead in a heavy challenge but he was bandaged up and continued.
Almiron was the victim of a cynical hatchet job from Lucas Hernandez and from the resulting free-kick pandemonium ensued.
Lascelles headed against his own arm and Donnarumma prevented an own goal from Ugarte, then saved from Guimaraes, who crossed for Burn to head across the line just before the Italian keeper with the giant wingspan got a hand on it.
Goal-line technology gave Burn the nod but then came that lengthy VAR check, with Lascelles perhaps fortunate to get away with contact against his arm.
Still nobody except the PSG fans in the stratospheric seats in the Leazes End cared a hoot. Seismic levels of bedlam ensued.
PSG emerged punch-drunk after the interval and within five minutes, it was three when Trippier fed Longstaff who drilled home under Donnarumma’s body.
There was a flicker from the visitors as Lucas Hernandez headed a through-ball from Warren Zaire-Emery past Nick Pope.
There were nervy moments and some heroic defending, especially from captain Lascelles, but Newcastle were never going to toss away a three-goal lead.
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And in injury-time Fabian Schar leathered the fourth with a curling long-ranger to beat the despairing Donnarumma.
They have arrived here ahead of schedule, but Newcastle are here to stay.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
