Tonali beats Brentford to send Newcastle into Carabao Cup semi-final | Carabao Cup

A sticking plaster for Newcastle’s internal tensions or a possible long-term solution to their problems? Whatever the reality, Eddie Howe’s inconsistent side are now just two semi-final games away from a potentially transformative Wembley showpiece after two outstanding first-half goals from Sandro Tonali and another from Fabian Schär set up an immensely disappointing Brentford destroyed Tyneside.

While Tonali controlled the pace of the game and Howe’s hope of ending his club’s long decades without a trophy faded, Thomas Frank’s players withered under the floodlights. Long before Yoane Wissa’s academic stoppage-time goal reduced the deficit, they appeared to have already checked in for the flight back to London.

There are rumors that Tonali could return to his beloved AC Milan for £45m or join Juventus in a similarly expensive move in January, but for now the Italian midfielder appears indispensable to Howe. Ever since Newcastle’s manager offered Tonali a deeper role at the heart of the midfield – making him a flexible No. 6 and Bruno Guimarães a more fluid No. 8 – he and his wonderful passing selection have looked almost irreplaceable. Tonali also scores the odd goal, which he reminded everyone of when Nathan Collins cleared Tino Livramento’s cross straight into his path and sent a perfectly calibrated shot flying past Mark Flekken.

Collins had originally been named to Brentford’s bench, but when Sepp van den Berg was injured during the warm-up, he was promoted to the starting eleven. Much to Frank’s disappointment, it wasn’t long before he had to reshuffle his back three again after Ethan Pinnock limped off and was replaced by Mads Roerslev.

Not that Brentford had any intention of surrendering. Wissa felt he should have been awarded a penalty after Martin Dubravka appeared to catch the striker’s heel after intercepting Kevin Schade’s clever pass and rounding the goalkeeper. Sam Barrott, the referee, did not accept a claim, which would have been extremely harsh on Dubravka, but if VAR had been operational it is not impossible that the result would have been different.

Howe seemed more concerned about the way Newcastle’s performance had slumped from a fast-paced, wildly intense start to a tentative, nervous display as the tie approached half-time.

While it hardly helped the home teams that Guimarães had to be careful after picking up a yellow card for Vitaly Janelt, it was easy to see why these sides are level on points in mid-table in the Premier League. At least that was the case until Tonali struck again from a set-piece and the nervous Newcastle fans finally remembered that Frank’s team, while outstanding at home, often display a strange shyness away from home and are yet to win away from home this season must achieve.

In fact, memories of Howe’s team’s 4-2 defeat in west London earlier this month were largely erased when Tonali converted Anthony Gordon’s corner and directed a fine volley past the helpless Flekken. Although Brentford’s defense was far from exemplary, their organization was disrupted by a deception from Joelinton, who relished distracting two would-be defenders in a move that bore the hallmark of Howe’s assistant Jason Tindall’s training ground ingenuity.

Frank could have done with similarly ruthless efficiency from his players, but apart from a Keane Lewis-Potter free-kick that went wide, they posed little threat and seemed to be out of attacking ideas. Tonali’s ability to slow the game down when Wissa and Co. tried to change the narrative in the second half proved crucial and will certainly be even more important if his side wants to win the Carabao Cup.

In fact, Tonali and Newcastle had already done enough to ensure that fans could dream that Howe’s players would finally end the national trophy drought that had lasted until 1955, even before Schär scored the third goal after Guimarães unselfishly pushed the ball over the goal had rolled. Maybe, just maybe, Howe’s season is destined for a happy ending after all.