The 'unseen' Sandro Tonali gesture Newcastle United fans & Eddie Howe will love

The Italian midfielder scored twice in the Carabao Cup quarter-final as Newcastle won 3-1 to set up a semi-final clash with Arsenal. It was Tonali’s first goals for The Magpies since his debut and both were well-received by his teammates.

The Newcastle players quickly gathered around the 24-year-old and, according to a question posed to Eddie Howe, started singing his name. It was a moment that the United boss felt highlighted the unity and spirit amongst his players heading into a busy run of fixtures.

“I wasn't aware of what they were doing so I haven't seen that,” Howe said about the celebrations. “Unless you're in that moment I'm not sure you can actually guarantee what they're doing.

“But anything that makes the player in that moment feel special and important is a great thing and I think you can see, I often say to the players you can tell a lot from a celebration of a goal, a lot about the harmony of the group, the spirit of the group and I love to see the players celebrate together and have the whole team together whoever scores.

“You need that feeling and that connection between the players, you need to have that feeling that whoever scores you're taking the acclaim together and lifting each other higher. That's such an important thing.”

Newcastle will be looking to secure a third win in a row when they travel to Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off).