Jason Tindall hopes that Newcastle’s impressive victory over Manchester United will have raised Eddie Howe’s spirits in hospital after he missed the game through illness. Howe was taken to hospital on Friday after feeling unwell for a number of days and was unable to attend St James’ Park for the Premier League game on Sunday afternoon.
His assistant Tindall stepped up and was on the touchline as Newcastle thrashed Ruben Amorim’s side 4-1 to go fourth in the Premier League. Sandro Tonali opened the scoring with a powerful finish, and although Alejandro Garnacho equalised for United, the result never looked in doubt in the second half.
Harvey Barnes tapped in Jacob Murphy’s low cross for 2-1 before charging through the United defence to find the top corner and extend their lead. United’s stand-in goalkeeper Altay Bayindir then gifted Bruno Guimaraes a fourth Newcastle goal by giving away possession in a dangerous area.
Victory was crucial for Newcastle’s chances of earning a place in next season’s Champions League and was extra special for the Magpies, given Howe’s ill health. Speaking after the game, Tindall confirmed that Howe had watched the game but had not had any say in picking the team or their tactics.
“I’ve just seen a message from him before I came to do the press congratulating the performance from everybody and the team,” Tindall told Sky Sports. “He was able to watch it and I’m sure that will have lifted his spirits.”
Asked if Howe had any input during the game, Tindall said: “No, he sort of trusted the decisions that we would make. We’ve been working together for a long time and we were able to communicate earlier on in the week and I think he put his trust in everybody to go out there and deliver a performance that he’d be proud of and the lads certainly did that.”
Speaking to BBC Sport, Tindall added: “We worked together now for 17 years and he’s only ever missed a day or two in that time, so he must’ve been struggling today not to lead the guys… I’m sure it will give him a lift.”
Speaking before kick-off, Tindall said: “He was taken to hospital on Friday evening, so everybody wishes him the best and I’m sure he’ll be back with us again soon.”
Newcastle’s final two goals came from their pressing, with Noussair Mazraoui dispossessed by Barnes for the third before Bayindir was rushed into making a mistake, chipping the ball to Joelinton, who nodded it down for Guimaraes to score. That was a direct instruction from the Newcastle coaching staff at the break, according to Tindall.
“We had to make a couple of changes at half-time – just a couple of tweaks,” he added. “I felt that we were probably a few yards off on our press, certainly in the attacking half, and we needed to close those gaps in order to have more regains in the attacking half and the lads went out there and delivered that excellently.
“We felt we could hurt them in an area at the opposite side of the pitch and the lads went out there and delivered the tactical executions excellently well.”
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