Sandro Tonali's stunning strike earns Newcastle United all three points against Brentford at St James' Park. Joe Buck analyses a huge win for Eddie Howe's side in the race for Champions League qualification.
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00:00So, Newcastle United back to winning ways here at St James' Park in the Premier League
00:05with a 2-1 win over Brentford. Now, we all thought, didn't know how they'd react from
00:09that Wembley win. Of course, they were brilliant on that day, but with over two weeks' break
00:13and obviously Brentford had a really tough test, you think, how will Newcastle react
00:16to that? And I think the lads, you did all right. It wasn't their best performance of
00:19the season. I'm sure Eddie Howe will have things to consider ahead of the game against
00:24Leicester on Monday, but they got the job done, got the win, and yeah, we'll sound
00:29rotten orally. I'm sure we'll come on to him in a bit. But yeah, Eddie Howe, unsurprisingly,
00:34named an unchanged team from that team that started at Wembley. I don't think there was
00:38too many debates. I think the only decision anyone really expected him to make was if
00:44he would keep Nick Pope in there. I think that was the only one really to consider.
00:47But yeah, unchanged team. Newcastle came out of the box, blocks flying. Isaac had a header
00:52saved early on. Joe Linton had a shot, blocks. You know, the really first five, ten minutes
00:56that really looked good. Then Brentford slowly worked their way back into the game. You can't
01:00not really surprise. You know, Brentford are a very tactically aware team, very tactically
01:03astute. Thomas Frank will have them, you know, set up very well. And, you know, for the next
01:0820 or so minutes, I think Brentford did well. Neither team really had too many chances.
01:13It was a very even game. And it was an even game right up until, well, the stroke of half-time
01:17where everything sort of happened. First of all, Newcastle had the ball in the box. Alexander
01:20Isak broke through, went 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper, dinked in and outside defenders, chipped the
01:25ball. Harvey Barnes headed it home. Now the assistance flag was up for an offside on Harvey
01:30Barnes. VAR, quick check, looked tight, but obviously VAR had said he was offside. Hadn't
01:35seen it again, but obviously VAR said he was offside and he looked offside. But again,
01:38very close. It's surprising to see Isak didn't take a shot on. You know, he was given the
01:41opportunity, a couple of opportunities to shoot. And I think Barnes was making that clear to him
01:45when he was given offside, you know, why didn't he shoot. It looked like that wasn't a gas of
01:50chance going into half-time, but they managed to sneak one more chance in. They had a fourth
01:54official indicate one minute by the time the VAR check had gone, and there was still about a
01:58minute to play. Newcastle recycled the ball well, got it out with Jacob Murphy. Jacob Murphy didn't
02:02have the brilliant best of first halves, but he put in a brilliant ball into the box. Now,
02:08Alexander Isak is in the middle, ready to head it, and Brian Mbuemo is in front of him now,
02:13and Mbuemo probably does get it if he doesn't slip. But unfortunately, he does slip just in
02:18front of Isak, and Isak taps home. Now, Isak obviously, you know, it wasn't the cleanest
02:22finishes. Would he have got it without the slip from the Cameroonian? Who knows? But you've got
02:26to be there to take those opportunities, and Isak was there to take that opportunity when
02:30it presented to him. And yeah, he scored his 20th Premier League goal in season 24th in all
02:34competitions. He's got double figures, it's home and away this year. So yeah, it's another goal,
02:39another assist for Jacob Murphy, another goal for Isak. Just, you know, a really good end to the
02:42half, and one that Newcastle needed. As I said, they weren't necessarily bad in the first half,
02:46but it was a very even game. You could tell that, you know, it was a more subdued performance than
02:50they put on the Wembley. But like they did at Wembley, getting that goal just before half-time
02:53really galvanised them. And they started the second half again okay, but Brentford slowly
02:57worked back into it. They did get fully back into the game when Newcastle United conceded
03:03their first penalty of the season. Now, a ball was played to Johan Whistler, and Nick Pope
03:08just doesn't get there on time. Whistler just nips a ball in front of him, and Nick Pope brings
03:12him down. It was a definite penalty, VAR checked initially, but I think it was just for the offside,
03:17he wasn't. And yeah, Wembley made no mistake from the spot. And this was really Brentford's
03:22best period of the game. They built themselves into it, and they probably deserved the equaliser.
03:25Then a couple of minutes after that, Ethan Pinnock heads the ball onto the post, and the ball falls
03:33to a grateful Nick Pope, and at that point you're thinking, oh Newcastle, are they going to let
03:36their opponents back in? We've seen it against Brighton this year, Bournemouth, even Brentford
03:42in the away game and follow them in games like that, where teams of this sort of ability can
03:48get themselves back into it and really take advantage of when Newcastle are a little bit
03:51more subdued. But Newcastle kept in the game, and they found their way in ahead by an absolutely
03:57sensational goal. Newcastle went ahead to a sensational goal, that's all you can say.
04:01Sandro Tonali picked up the ball on the right. There was nothing on, there was absolutely nothing
04:06on for him. It's hard to explain how little there was on. There was probably a cross at the box,
04:10maybe Callum Wilson, who came off Isak at that point, maybe he was in the box. I think everyone
04:16was ready for a cross, even Mark Flecken in the Brentford goal I think was ready for a cross.
04:21All of a sudden, Tonali unleashes this rocket of a shot, it goes past Flecken at the near post,
04:25it's absolutely brilliant. The St James' Park crowd stunned. The reaction of that was, it was
04:30astonishment that he'd done it, rather than belief that he would score. It was absolutely
04:34brilliant. I've seen lots of people, did he mean it, did he not? We've had debate in the press
04:36box, did he mean it or did he not? I think he meant it. I think that Tonali's that type of player
04:41in the corner of his eye who saw the gap. The way he hits the ball, it's such a clean strike,
04:44it's such a powerful strike. It doesn't seem like it could be a mishit cross, because
04:48if it's a mishit cross, he's done it so badly that it's really bad. I can't believe he's
04:53mishit a cross like that, therefore I do think he meant it. I think it's absolutely brilliant.
04:58It's just another fantastic moment for Sandro Tonali this year. He was probably one of Newcastle's
05:02best players, even before that goal. That just sort of tipped him into being the man of the
05:06match, in my eyes. He was absolutely sensational. Newcastle held on, I think they were maybe a bit
05:11fortunate that they conceded a penalty in the last couple of minutes. Bruno Kachan won the
05:14Brentford players in the box. But I think overall, even game, I think Newcastle probably rode their
05:19luck at times and were helped on by a 52,000-strong crowd here and got over the line. In a game they
05:25needed to. We've seen Newcastle, I've mentioned Newcastle have crumbled in games like this,
05:28haven't won games like this all year. But to get a win against Brentford in a game,
05:32especially tonight when Manchester City have won. Nottingham Forest, of course, won yesterday.
05:37Aston Villa have won. Chelsea play tomorrow. So there are lots of teams around them picking up
05:40points. It was really good for them to get a win and stay in touching distance of that European
05:45race with Leicester, Palace and Man Utd to come in the next week. So before they go and play Villa,
05:50you know, it's a massive couple of weeks for them. And they've really solidified their place in that.
05:54If they can win that game in hand, which comes against Palace in two weeks today,
05:57then they really fancy their chances to go on and push for Champions League spots.
06:00They're sixth, fifth currently. Chelsea, of course, against Tottenham tomorrow. So
06:04depending on how that is, they might end up dropping down to sixth. But right now,
06:07they'll finish fifth. And that would, you know, if the season finished now,
06:11they'd be in Champions League. So yeah, it was a good win for Newcastle. A real confidence
06:14builder. And as I said, coming off the win in the Carabao Cup final, you just wanted them just to
06:19keep that momentum going and get that next win. And they did it the hard way. They did it against
06:23a tough team. But they've done it in three valuable points. And yeah, as I said, Leicester
06:28on Monday night, it's going to be a tricky game. You know, Leicester aren't the best team on the
06:34road. Sorry, Leicester aren't the best team at home recently. Newcastle have had a good record
06:38on the road, but you know, they're going to be fighting for their lives. So they'll be really
06:41hopeful to get three points there. But yeah, it was a massive three points for them to do it in
06:44front of the home crowd. Nine games after the season, five at St James' Park, four more away
06:48from home. Yeah, it's just a fantastic stepping stone for them to build on. Hopefully they can
06:51build on from that. But as I said, midfield maestro Sandro Tonali, he was the game changer,
06:55I think, for Newcastle. Like he was against Brentford in the cup with his two goals,
06:58he was a real game changer, match winner. Yeah, Sandro Tonali, just another statement performance
07:05of what has been a brilliant, brilliant season for him and a brilliant few months,
07:08or few weeks, sorry, for Newcastle United.