Howe hails ‘big moment’ for Newcastle as Tonali strikes it lucky

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said Sandro Tonali’s eye-catching winner in Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Brentford was a “big moment” in their push to qualify for the Champions League.

Tonali fired Newcastle into fifth place in the Premier League as the Italian midfielder’s 74th-minute rocket beat Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken from an improbable angle.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank claimed it was a lucky goal, describing Tonali’s winner as a “one in a million cross”.

Even Tonali admitted there was an element of fortune to his strike.

“It was definitely a good shot but it was 70 per cent cross, I am going to be honest with you. It was perfect, the speed. I was a little bit lucky because the keeper was not in the goal,” he said.

But Howe was convinced Tonali deserved credit for his headline-grabbing blast, especially since it gave fresh impetus to Newcastle’s bid to return to Europe’s elite club competition.

“Let me say one thing about Sandro: he can hit a ball like no-one. When he strikes it, I fear for our goalkeepers’ wrists sometimes because he can hit it that hard, so I wouldn’t put it past him meaning that,” Howe said.

“It was a big moment in the game because we needed it. At that moment, the game was very much in the balance, so it’s a big moment in our season.”

The League Cup winners, playing for the first time since beating Liverpool to clinch their first major trophy for 56 years, are one point ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea, who host Tottenham on Thursday.

The Magpies are one point behind fourth-placed Manchester City with a game in hand.

The top four qualify automatically for the Champions League, with fifth place also likely to secure entry depending on the results of the English clubs remaining European action this