Newcastle mark Tonali’s comeback with shootout win against Nottingham Forest

Newcastle had two major causes to celebrate after Sean Longstaff booked their place in the third round with the winning penalty on the night Sandro Tonali marked his return from a 10-month gambling ban.
Longstaff came on for the Italian just after the hour mark as Eddie Howe rotated his squad but they stayed strong throughout, deserving on balance to go through to a third-round tie away to AFC Wimbledon. Jota Silva’s goal on his impressive first start for Nottingham Forest had levelled out Joe Willock’s first-minute opener to send this tie into the penalty shootout.
Yet it could have been so different if, with Forest leading the shootout 3-2, Ibrahim Sangaré had not struck the crossbar then Taiwo Awoniyi cleared it by some distance with the home team’s final two spot-kicks.
For many fans, this was simply a good old cup tie with plenty of fringe players of two attacking teams giving a good account of themselves, to suggest the clubs can both maintain their promising starts to the season.
For Tonali and the Newcastle supporters, however, this was a red-letter day – the game when the playmaker signed from Milan for £55m 13months ago was finally free to play top-flight football once again.
The 24-year-old, who last played for Newcastle in a Champions League home defeat by Borussia Dortmund in October last year, returned from a footballer’s idea of hell to give an excellent reminder of his talents.
He played for an hour and Howe was gratified by his return. “I thought he did well,” the Newcastle manager said. “He was involved in some lovely passages of play. He did well, fitness-wise, considering the lack of action he has had and he can be pleased with the reaction from the supporters at the end. You could see the amount of Italian flags in the crowd. There was a lot of emotion from Sandro.
“I think he will be absolutely delighted to be back. He has the love of the people that will really matter – that is his family and the Newcastle family – [and] that will make him feel so good.”
Howe warned that despite the player’s sharpness on this return, full match fitness will not come immediately. “We have to make the right decision for the team first,” the manager said. “Sandro is a top-quality player and we will try and make the right decision. He has had a real lack of top football work, so I think he is a bit short of his top levels. But hopefully this is the first game of many.”
Cries of “Sandro Tonali” had belted out from the Bridgford Stand as the Newcastle players went to greet the travelling supporters during their warm-up. The playmaker soon showed his gratitude as Howe’s team took the lead after 18 seconds.
While Forest made 10 changes from the side that won 1-0 at Southampton, Newcastle’s more experienced team showed greater cohesion immediately, Tonali neatly turning the ball on for Miguel Almirón to play a superb ball that released Alexander Isak down the inside-left channel.
Although Carlos Miguel, with his first touch as a Forest player, managed to parry the Swede’s powerful low shot, Willock turned in the rebound for his first goal in six months.
Willock had to be withdrawn after just 15 minutes, injuring his thigh, after a challenge with Eric da Silva Moreira, forcing Howe to adjust his midfield. Sending Bruno Guimarães on as the substitute showed Newcastle’s intent.
Forest, with only Elliot Anderson, up against his former club, retaining his starting place from Saturday, had their moments in the middle part of the game. Dan Burn cleared from the line, comfortably enough, after Nick Pope was beaten to Ramon Sosa’s cross by Jota’s header.
Shortly after the interval, when Joelinton and Burn failed to deal with Alex Moreno’s long throw-in from the left, the ball fell kindly for Jota to lash in a shot off the underside of the crossbar. The £6m signing from Vitória Guimarães, impressed throughout his hour on the field.
If Newcastle, beaten finalists in this competition two seasons ago, felt the game slipping away from them, substitutes Anthony Gordon, Tino Livramento and Longstaff enabled them to wrestle back control and they had a flurry of late chances – Burn heading just wide of one post, Harvey Barnes shooting past the other – before finally getting the job done from 12 yards.