Sandro Tonali ran onto the St James’ Park turf to a huge ovation.
Newcastle were 4-0 up when the Italian international came off the subs bench after 70 minutes to make what could be his last appearance for a year, with a lengthy ban for breaking betting rules looming. After two weeks of personal turmoil, the 23-year-old discovered exactly how much love the Geordie crowd have for him.
It could have gone either way. Eddie Howe asked for the crowd to “throw their arms” around the £52m midfielder, despite misdemeanours when he was at Milan which could wreck his season and beyond. There were other heroes on display for Howe here.
Jacob Murphy with a goal and an assist. Kieran Trippier absolutely brilliant, and Anthony Gordon elusive. But for now it felt emotional as the young star, now labelled a “gambling addict” by his agent, led a lap of honour thanking team-mates and fans for their backing, with a hint of remorse.
In future years Tonali may get the chance to repay the loyalty and solidarity he’s been shown by Howe and the Tyneside crowd. Post-game, with St James’ empty, Tonali did his extra running, and walked off acknowledging the Toon Army’s support. The crowd were great for you there, I said. “Yeah, yeah.” He even smiled.
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Boss Eddie Howe said: “A big thank you from me to our supporters. They reacted the way I hoped they would. I wanted him to walk at the front at the end so that he could feel the love of the crowd close up.
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“That will do him the world of good. We don't know what lies ahead for him. He will have been massively boosted by today. It will make a huge difference to him.
“He is going to have hard times ahead. He has had the care of supporters today. He knows he has support from the senior management of the club and the supporters.”
United off the pitch as well as on it, Howe’s men ran riot and became the Premier League's top scorers. After a difficult week Newcastle had the perfect start, ahead after just three minutes after a brilliant improvised finish from Jacob Murphy.
He was preferred to Miggy Almiron and combined expertly with Trippier. Fab Schar drove a diagonal ball to the England full-back, who cushioned a lovely pass into the box for Murphy to lob inside the back post.
The assistant referee flagged for offside but a VAR check showed Trippier was onside. Howe’s men were on top form, moving the ball quickly and creating chances, particularly down the right. There was a terrible miss from Anthony Gordon who hit the bar from five yards with an open goal.
Trippier then crossed to Wilson at the back post, who nodded over from close range. The second goal arrived just before half time. Fab Schar went on a dribble and sprayed the ball right to Murphy, who used the dynamic overlapping run of Trippier as a distraction to cross to the back post. Gordon, United’s player of the season so far, was on hand to finish.
Newcastle supporters offered their support to Sandro Tonali (Getty Images)During first-half injury time it was three. Trippier launched a ball to the edge of the box which Marc Guehi failed to clear. Sean Longstaff, another outstanding performer this campaign, seized the ball 18 yards out and side-footed home.
Three up at half time was the sort of routine victory Howe wanted before their Champions League clash with Bundesliga outfit Dortmund on Wednesday.
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Newcastle’s fourth was a length of the pitch five-touch wonder - with Callum Wilson providing the finish. Nick Pope rolled the ball to Trippier, who slid Murphy into Palace’s half. He then whipped across to Wilson. So simple and easy, but alarming for Palace.
Howe was delighted with Murphy’s performance and added: "He's a big player. He was huge for us last year. He picked up a couple of injuries in pre-season. Huge contribution today when we needed it. He's a very reliable player and a great professional, so he's a huge part of our squad."
Palace’s Joel Ward admitted: “We were outclassed today, it is about how we bounce back from that. In tough times it is about how you respond. There are a host of things [that went wrong]. We know we can do better."
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