Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonaliplaceholder image
Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali | Getty Images
Sandro Tonali was the man for the big occasion as Newcastle United dumped Aston Villa out of the FA Cup.
Stand up in Bruno Guimaraes’ absence, he was asked. And oh boy, when Newcastle United needed a blue-chip player to call upon - Sandro Tonali delivered.
Toon fans were rocked late last night when the extent of the skipper’s injury emerged from Brazil. The prospect of losing Guimaraes - given Newcastle have failed to win any of their 12 Premier League games without him in the starting line-up - for 10 weeks dealt a hammer blow to the season.
Years of pessimism and a crippling injury list had Newcastle fans fearing the worst. How could the Magpies cope without their talismanic midfielder? Well, cometh the hour, cometh the man as the Italian stallion gift-wrapped a Valentine’s Day present with two second-half kisses from outside the box.
A lot has been written about Tonali in recent weeks. Speculation, poor form, rumours, agent talk and post-match frustration - which journalists overheard after the Manchester City defeat a fortnight ago.
But with two swishes of his right foot, Tonali painted his immediate loyalties very much in black-and-white stripes. The rumour mill will inevitably churn over the coming months but, for now, Newcastle know they have a world-class maestro who can plug the Guimaraes gap.
Thanks to Tonali, United’s brilliance dominated the post-match debrief rather than a disastrous refereeing display. It might have been February 14 but, at Villa Park, Chris Kavanagh showed no love to Newcastle.
Incorrect offside goals, brain-dead red cards and controversial penalty calls. This was a VAR-less FA Cup tie of yesterday played in the modern age. Had the Magpies not won this game, you have to imagine the smoke coming from Eddie Howe’s lugs at the full-time whistle.
But they did - and Tonali was the toast of the town as Newcastle roared into the FA Cup fifth round. Howe told reporters: “The only way Sandro can answer any question on his performance is on the pitch and today he responded really well.
“We needed players to step up in Bruno's absence, we needed the creativity gap that Bruno will leave filled, we needed the passion that Bruno shows on the pitch filled, and I thought all three midfielders did that.
“Sandro's got two goals, Nick's got a goal, so our midfielders contributed massively, and I'm really pleased with everybody. We're going to need that in his absence throughout the time that he's out.”
A special mention to Nick Woltemade - who ended 14 games without a goal. The 6,000-strong away end serenaded the German, serving up the perfect encore to the chants of “Sob on the Holte, ole ole…”
“Nick was brilliant in that sort of deeper role he played him in and got his reward at the end,” Howe said about Woltemade. “Yeah, really pleased with him today. I think his attitude to what we've been asking him to do in recent weeks, where we've been training him in a different position, has been outstanding.
“He's done a lot of work, he's done it really well and today he got the benefit of that. I thought he was very, very good, in possession, out of possession, capped off with a great goal, delighted for him and hopefully that just makes him feel really good about himself and what the future can look like for him here.”
Continue Reading