'Definitely' - Alan Shearer urges bold Sandro Tonali call after Newcastle United make £105m switch

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe made the bold call to drop Sandro Tonali and name a midfield three of Joe Willock, Bruno Guimaraes and Sean Longstaff. Joelinton started on the left wing with Anthony Gordon on the right and Alexander Isak leading the line.

Although the left wing is Gordon’s preferred position, his cross from the right flank was headed in by Isak to ultimately give Newcastle the lead.

“What about the goal lads, the cross and the header?” Shearer said on The Rest is Football Podcast. “It was a thing of beauty, wasn't it? Oh my god.”

It was Newcastle’s first Premier League win in six matches as now Howe’s side head to high-flying Nottingham Forest on Sunday (2pm kick-off) looking to secure back-to-back league heading into the November international break.

And Shearer believes the balance of Newcastle’s midfield and attack should not be changed for the match at the City Ground.

“That was key to how Newcastle played, the balance of the midfield and the balance of the front three,” Shearer added. “Joelinton put a shift in on the left and I thought it was much better.

“Eddie has been searching for that right balance and he struggled to find it but I thought because of what happened on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup with Newcastle beating Chelsea, there were signs then that the energy was back and everything that they were searching for.

“It was nearly there on Wednesday and they carried that into the game against Arsenal and they did that and the balance looked spot on. I'd stick with that if everyone is fit, definitely.”