It was a performance and result full of positives at St James’ Park last night as we beat Spurs 2-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
We didn’t just see off a strong comfortably, we did it after eight changes, saw Nick Woltemade score again, Fabian Schar head home on his return to the side, and a number of squad members grasps their opportunities with both hands.
One man who came in for just his second start of the season was Aaron Ramsdale, who did his hopes of landing a permanent move to Tyneside no harm following his loan-to-buy switch from Southampton.
Ramsdale won’t make the headlines for his display, but he was perhaps one of our unsung heroes on the night, as Howe spoke so highly of the former Arsenal man after the match, hailing his all round display and attitude behind the scenes:
> _“Tottenham had their moments and attacked well, but Aaron, when needed, made a number of really, really good saves and controlled his area well._
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> _“The added thing with him is his distribution is very good as well, so a really good night for him,_
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> _“I am delighted for him personally, as his attitude every day has been first class. There has not been a moment where his enthusiasm has dropped._
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> _“He is delighted to be here and wants to play for the club._ _That was a great game for him.”_
Then there is Sandro Tonali, who was comfortably the best player on the pitch last night.
The Italian is a truly world class talent, producing an all-action display on and off the ball just days after recovering from a “nasty illness” that saw him miss out on the starting 11 on both occasions last week.
Howe hailed his work on and off the ball against Spurs, where he not only covered every blade of grass and put out fires, but set up Schar’s opener before creating once again as Barnes hit the bar:
> _“I thought he was excellent today. Full of energy, outstanding both in and out of possession. Very pleased for Sandi._
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> _“He’s had a nasty illness actually, and it knocked him a little bit. But he was very honest about initially saying he couldn’t perform for the team (last week), so we left him out._
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> _“But today was the right time to bring him back in. And he looked 100% fit. Delighted with his performance.”_
On his discomfort late on, Howe also played down any injury fears, insisting Tonali was just cramping up after missing some sessions last week as he recovered from a bug:
> _“He’s fine. Just a little bit of cramp. I think that shows how finely tuned athletes they are._
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> _“Sandro’s super fit, but you miss a few days’ training due to his illness and you feel it, but I think there are no problems.”_