Sandro Tonali rescued Italy in stoppage time against Israel last night - could Newcastle United learn a trick or two?
With one swish of his right foot, Sandro Tonali triggered pandemonium inside the Nagyerdei Stadium.
The Newcastle United ace hit a 91st-minute curler to snatch a nine-goal thriller against Israel and boost Italy’s chances of World Cup qualification - making it two wins from as many games under new manager Gennaro Gattuso. Admittedly, goalkeeper Daniel Peretz should have done better, but that does not take away from Tonali’s effort or the fervent celebrations that followed.
The 25-year-old has shown glimpses of the spectacular during his time at Newcastle. Who could forget the improvised effort from an obscure angle against Brentford last season?
Tonali’s sixth-minute debut strike against Aston Villa also made Toon fans aware of his goalscoring prowess. But his deeper role - one of the key reasons behind Newcastle’s success last season - means he has just seven goals in 60 games in a black-and-white shirt.
Eddie Howe’s food for thought
He certainly has the extraordinary in his locker. That extends to free-kicks too, some may not be aware, with Tonali - who seldom takes one for the Magpies - scoring two in his career.
This is not a call for arms to overhaul the Newcastle system that has worked brilliantly. Ultimately, Eddie Howe is the one paid big bucks to call the shots at St James’ Park and he was given further food for thought last night.
‘It was murder’ - Gennaro Gattuso
Italy manager Gattuso called the contest “murder” and his “craziest” game as a manager. He told Sky Sports Italia: “It was murder today. It’s the craziest game I’ve been involved with as a coach, but it is my problem and not that of the players.
“If we want to play in a certain way, we need to get better at this. We were crazy to systematically go on the attack, that’s what Israel were waiting for, they hit us on the counter every time. We could’ve defended deeper when leading.”
‘Crazy game’ - Manuel Locatelli
Manuel Locatelli - whose own goal put Italy 1-0 down on 16 minutes - hailed his team’s character following the win. He added: “It was a crazy game, as we conceded goals, scored, conceded for 4-4, then won 5-4. I think the thing we ought to remark is the character of this team.
“We made a lot of mistakes too that need to be analysed, we didn’t have the right approach from the start, and that cannot happen. We weren’t solid enough, as Israel were dangerous on the counter-attack. We need to analyse the match, but the victory is what we needed, and we achieved that.”
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