Yoane Wissa marks first Champions League start with opener in Newcastle victory

Yoane Wissa marked his first Champions League start with his first goal as Newcastle ensured a play-off berth at worst with a comprehensive 3-0 win over PSV Eindhoven.

Wissa, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes all pounced on errors from the runaway Eredivisie leaders to ease their side to a victory which leaves them seventh in the table ahead of next week’s visit to holders Paris St Germain.

It was far from a classic on a wintry Tyneside night, but Eddie Howe’s men did what they needed to do in front of a delighted crowd of 52,076 to all but secure a top-16 finish and give themselves a chance of automatic qualification, while leaving PSV looking over their shoulder with Bayern Munich to come.

The visitors, who arrived having lost just one of their last 21 games in all competitions, enjoyed the brighter start, but it was the Magpies who mustered the first attempt on goal, Gordon blasting over from a tight angle after Joelinton had helped on Kieran Trippier’s fifth-minute cross, and they who took the lead three minutes later.

PSV goalkeeper Matej Kovar’s scuffed clearance was picked off by Bruno Guimaraes and he fed Joelinton, who squared unselfishly for Yoane to steer a shot past Kovar, although the striker faced an anxious wait after referee Daniel Siebert was sent to the screen to check a potential offside before awarding the goal.

Undaunted, the Dutchmen continued to take the game to the hosts, whose inability to retain possession – skipper Guimaraes was repeatedly the culprit – in the face of a determined press added to the pressure.

Sven Botman stubbed an ambitious volley well wide after he and central defensive partner Malick Thiaw had recycled a Trippier free-kick, but as an increasingly-ragged affair rumbled along,