NEWCASTLE : An inspired Marcus Rashford celebrated his return to English soil by scoring twice in nine second-half minutes to give Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United in their Champions League season opener at St James' Park on Thursday.
Missing key players Lamine Yamal, Alejandro Balde, and Gavi through injury, the visitors had to weather an early storm as Newcastle pressed high relentlessly, with goalkeeper Joan Garcia making a fabulous reflex save to deny Harvey Barnes from close-range early in the game.
The five-time European champions gradually gained control of proceedings until English forward Rashford broke the deadlock in the 58th minute, scoring his first goal for Barcelona with an angled header from Jules Kounde's right-wing cross that nestled just inside the left post beyond Nick Pope's reach.
Rashford's inspirational night continued nine minutes later when he pounced on a rebound at the edge of the box, set himself up with a quick glide to the right, and unleashed an unstoppable strike that flew past Pope before licking the crossbar into the top left corner.
Anthony Gordon reduced the deficit in the 90th minute, tapping-in a low cross from Jacob Murphy in a quick counter, but it was too little too late for Newcastle.
Following a great performance during Sunday's 6-0 LaLiga win over Valencia, Rashford's stunning double suggests he is finally recovering his old form after falling out of favour at Manchester United.
His back-to-back performances suggest that coach Hansi Flick's personal bet on Rashford is paying off.
The German tactician made signing the English forward a priority during the close season and backed him to fill Yamal's boots in their Champions League season debut.
"I'm not surprised," Flick
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