A sticking plaster camouflaging Newcastle’s internal tensions or a potential long-term cure for their problems? Whatever the reality, Eddie Howe’s inconsistent team are a two-legged semi-final away from a potentially transformative Wembley showpiece after two stellar first-half goals from the excellent Sandro Tonali and another from Fabian Schär undid an underwhelming Brentford on a cool, still Tyneside night.
As Tonali controlled the pace of this last-eight tie, displaying an invaluable ability to slow things down when necessary, and Howe’s dream of ending his club’s long decades without a trophy endured, Thomas Frank’s players wilted beneath the floodlights. Long before Yoane Wissa’s academic stoppage-time goal reduced the deficit, they looked to, mentally, have checked in for their flight back to London. Frank was certainly not in a mood for excuses. “Newcastle were the better team,” he said. “We gave three soft goals away, that’s the most disappointing thing.”
