Gordon achieved a hat-trick in the initial 33 minutes, including a penalty goal. This made Gordon the fastest English player to score a hat-trick in Champions League history.

By first-half stoppage time, the 24-year-old forward scored again from the penalty spot, completing his four-goal haul. Gordon became the first Newcastle player to score four goals in a Champions League match, and the second player to score four goals in a single half in the competition, following Luiz Adriano for Shakhtar Donetsk against BATE Borisov in 10/2014.

Anthony Gordon celebrates after scoring his fourth goal in Newcastle's 6-1 victory over Qarabag in the first leg of their Champions League play-off at Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan on 18/2. Photo: AFP

Reaching 10 goals this season, Gordon is only behind Harry Kane, who has 11 goals, among English players with the most goals in a single Champions League season. He also significantly surpassed the record of six goals in a season set by Newcastle legend Alan Shearer.

In the first half, besides Gordon's four goals, Malick Thiaw also scored, giving Newcastle a 5-0 lead. Newcastle became the second team to lead an opponent by at least five goals in the first half of a Champions League knockout round match. Previously, only Bayern Munich achieved this feat, leading Porto by the same 5-0 scoreline in the quarterfinals in 4/2015.

In the second half, Elvin Cafarquliyev narrowed the score for Qarabag, before Jacob Murphy sealed the 6-1 victory. This marks the first time Newcastle has scored six goals in a European Cup match in 149 games.

Newcastle's victory is also the 92nd instance in the history of the European Cup/Champions League where a team won by a margin of five or more goals in the first leg of a two-legged knockout round. All 91 previous cases advanced to the next stage.

Kasper Hogh celebrates a goal in Bodo/Glimt's 3-1 victory over Inter Milan at Aspmyra Stadium, Bodo, Norway. Photo: Reuters

In matches held yesterday evening, Bodo/Glimt continued to surprise by defeating current runner-up Inter Milan 3-1. In the group stage, the Norwegian representative did not win in the initial six rounds and seemed destined for an early exit. However, they subsequently made a spectacular comeback, successively beating Man City 3-1 and Atletico 2-1 to narrowly qualify for the knockout round.

In the two remaining matches, Leverkusen won 2-0 away against Olympiakos thanks to a brace from forward Patrik Schick. Atletico Madrid, however, was held to a 2-2 draw by host Club Brugge despite leading by two goals in the first half.

The return legs of the play-off round will take place in one week. The draw for the round of 16 will be held on 27/2. From then on, the positions of the teams in the Champions League bracket will be finalized.

Hong Duy