Albert Luque was outstanding as Newcastle United thumped Celtic 4-1 at St James' Park last night.

The forgotten Spaniard, who had been promised a chance to prove himself all over again, grabbed his opportunity with a first-half double to leave Scottish champions Celtic reeling.

He and Obafemi Martins combined to hand their side a 3-0 lead at the break as the frailty of the visitors' defence proved more costly than that of their hosts.

The Magpies did not have it all their own way by any means as the Hoops played some neat football, but where Luque and Martins were decisive in front of goal, it took Celtic 72 minutes to find a way past former trainee Shay Given as Scott Brown claimed a consolation strike.

The bulk of a crowd of 30,225, including former Magpies boss Sir Bobby Robson, went home smiling having seen Geremi in particular shine on his Tyneside debut as James Milner sealed the victory at the death.