The Lord Mayor’s Show packed up and left town a few days ago but this was no anti-climax, even if Newcastle did have to wait until late for Sandro Tonali to emerge as the headline act.
On the back of Saturday’s Carabao Cup bus-parade party, Eddie Howe had told his players they might have to grind out victories between now and the end of the season in their pursuit of Champions League football. Not everything would be as glorified as Wembley and the celebrations that followed, he warned.
Well, Tonali disproved that theory with a winning goal of ridiculous quality and even greater audacity.