Sandro Tonali has just enjoyed what was surely the finest night of his Newcastle United career to date.
Indeed, the midfielder scored twice in Wednesday night’s 3-1 over Brentford as Newcastle reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
The draw for the final four will be held on Thursday but optimism is certainly high. Bees boss Thomas Frank, after all, admitted he told Eddie Howe that he wanted Newcastle to win the trophy.
While it was another brilliant night for the Newcastle United manager, there is little doubt the main story was the performance of Tonali.
The Italian international opened the scoring early with a fine strike before doubling the lead before half-time with a lovely cushioned volley following a well-worked corner.
Tonali also made a heart gesture towards the crowd, perhaps in a move to confirm he was happy at the club despite recent transfer talk.
Newcastle fans certainly enjoyed his outing in the deeper midfield role again, while club legend Alan Shearer was delighted with his technique shown when scoring the second goal of the evening.
AC Milan star and former teammate Rafael Leao was equally as impressed.
Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Carabao Cup Quarter Final match between Newcastle United and...
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
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Rafael Leao sends message to Sandro Tonali after Newcastle brace
After the game, Tonali took to Instagram to post: “Happy for the goals tonight and a win to secure a spot in the semis. Let’s keep it this way!”
In response, the Portugal international posted three surfer emojis.
Eddie Howe “excited” about Sandro Tonali at Newcastle
With Tonali playing deeper, Howe appears to have answered Newcastle’s long-running midfield problem.
While there will be tougher tests to come, the middle of the park no longer looks to be much of an issue right now.
Speaking after Saturday’s win over Leicester, Howe talked of how “excited” he was about the trio of Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton amid previous doubts about whether it worked.
Little about what happened on Wednesday looks likely to change his mind…
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