Howe praises Tonali’s tough record breaking achievement against West Ham

Newcastle United kept their focus to pick up an important three points against West Ham on Monday evening.

Eddie Howe has tried to keep Newcastle United focused, but it is inevitable that players would have had one eye on the Carabao Cup final for Monday’s trip to face West Ham.
Thankfully it wasn’t too much of a distraction and Bruno Guimaraes starred against West Ham, scoring the only goal of the game to secure a 1-0 win for Newcastle.

Newcastle now sit sixth in the Premier League table, keeping pace with their biggest rivals for Champions League qualification.

Position Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
5

Manchester City
28 14 5 9 53 38 15 47
6

Newcastle
28 14 5 9 47 38 9 47
7

Brighton
28 12 10 6 46 40 6 46
Players can also take confidence from Monday’s win into the cup final this weekend, especially Sandro Tonali who dominated West Ham at the London Stadium.

Sandro Tonali broke 10-year Newcastle record vs West Ham

Howe went full strength with his team selection against West Ham, leaning on the star-studded trio of Guimaraes, Joelinton and Sandro Tonali in midfield.

While Guimaraes scored the all-important goal, it was Tonali who ran the show from midfield. There was a slight injury scare when Tonali went down clutching his knee, but the Italian battled through it and put on a wonderful display.
Newcastle were able to keep their first clean sheet since the 2-0 win over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup back at the start of February, and Tonali played a vital role in keeping West Ham out.
He won 100% of his nine duels, leading him to break a record that has stood since 2015.

As pointed out by Premier League news, the last Newcastle player to contest more duels and win all of them was Chancel Mbemba vs Stoke City in 2015.
The Magpies took a point from that match 10 years ago, drawing 0-0 against Stoke with Mbemba starring at centre-back alongside Fabricio Coloccini.

Sandro Tonali will be key for Newcastle vs Liverpool

Newcastle avoided any injuries vs West Ham, meaning Howe can now start planning his lineup for Wembley.

While there are a few tough decisions to make around the starting XI, the midfield picks itself with Joelinton, Guimaraes and Tonali fit and firing.

Tonali has thrived in a deeper role this season, and up against Liverpool he will have a huge task on his hands breaking up attacks.