Harvey Barnes and Anthony Gordon fired Newcastle United to an emphatic victory against Jose Mourinho's Benfica in the Champions League.

The unmarked Gordon opened the scoring in the first half as he calmly sidefooted the ball past Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin at the back post following Jacob Murphy's ball across.

It was Gordon's fourth goal in just three games in the competition and gave Newcastle the platform to push for another after the break.

Barnes went on to double his side's lead after goalkeeper Nick Pope launched an almighty throw down the right.

Benfica defender Antonio Silva misjudged it and Barnes raced through before finishing in-off the upright.

There was still time for Barnes to add a third late on after Gordon set up his team-mate, who put the ball through Trubin's legs.

Benfica were left to rue what might have been after the visitors twice came close to breaking the deadlock.

A strong hand from Pope denied Dodi Lukebakio at his near post before the former Watford forward struck the upright a few minutes later with a whipped effort from outside the box.

Gordon and Barnes, however, took their chances as Newcastle recorded back-to-back victories in the Champions League for the first time since 2003.

Eddie Howe rightly wanted more.

Nick Woltemade has made an impressive start to his Newcastle career, but the German has had to shoulder the goalscoring burden very quickly since his £69m move from Stuttgart.

Woltemade has scored four of Newcastle's past five goals in the Premier League and they needed others to step up.

In this competition, both Gordon and Barnes have done so.

After scoring his first ever Champions League goal in the 2-1 defeat against Barcelona, which ended up proving a mere consolation, Gordon followed that up with a couple of penalties in the 4-0 rout of Union Saint-Gilloise.

But this was his most crucial contribution yet.

St James' was tense, nervy even, after Newcastle escaped a couple of scares following Lukebakio's efforts.

But the momentum of the game and, indeed, the atmosphere changed once Gordon opened the scoring.

And what about Barnes?

Like Gordon, he has yet to find the back of the net in the Premier League this season but has also come alive in Europe, scoring three goals in three appearances.

Woltemade may have failed to find the back of the net, but it did not matter because his team-mates stepped up.

Mourinho wanted to take it all in.

The Portuguese has an awful record at St James' Park - winning just three games in all competitions - but that has not stopped him being a "little Magpie" on account of his bond with the late Sir Bobby Robson.

So it was not a surprise, then, that Mourinho emerged five minutes before kick-off to listen to Newcastle fans sing along to Hey Jude and watch them wave their flags from the dugout.

He then made his way to the mouth of the tunnel to wait for Howe to emerge and give the Newcastle head coach a big pat.

But Howe had already warned "the line stops" once the game got under way - and so it proved.

Mourinho looked suitably content on the touchline as his side got men behind the ball and committed a series of fouls in the opening stages in a bid to disrupt Newcastle's rhythm.

The visitors even angered the crowd after midfielder Enzo Barrenechea rolled around the turf following a crunching challenge from Kieran Trippier.

But this was not a defend-at-all costs performance from Benfica, who had the better chances before Newcastle scored.

Even at 1-0, the dangerous Lukebakio forced Pope into an important save before half-time.

But it was Newcastle, unlike Benfica, who were ruthless in front of goal.

Newcastle host Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, 25 October before welcoming Tottenham to St James' Park in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, 29 October.