Sandro Tonali 'spotted' in Newcastle away end during FA Cup victory amid betting ban

Sandro Tonali may be serving a betting ban but he was supporting Newcastle in their FA Cup penalty shoot-out win over Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night.

Eddie Howe's side were taken all the way to spot-kicks by the Championship side after Sammie Szmodics cancelled out Anthony Gordon's strike.

Extra time did not result in a winner and the clash went to penalties, where Newcastle prevailed 4-3 in front of 7,000 away fans in the Darwen End.

Martin Dubravka denied Dom Hyam to send Newcastle into the quarter-finals and spark some joyous scenes.

And £55 million summer signing Tonali appeared to be watching.

The former AC Milan midfielder is currently unavailable for selection, having been hit with a ten-month ban from all football activity after breaching betting rules during his time in Italy.

However he is clearly still invested in everything going on with his team.

A picture doing the rounds on social media showed Tonali on FaceTime to someone in the away end, anxiously waiting for the shoot-out.

Image: X/@FtblJoe

Having made a handful of appearances at the start of the season, Tonali is not allowed to play until August and will therefore miss Euro 2024.

However, he is still able to go into training everyday and Howe has praised his contributions to the group, claiming he is "seeing some really good things from him".

Speaking last week, Howe said: "He's very much like a normal player apart from the fact we can't pick him on a Saturday. Apart from that, he's doing everything. He's doing all the training.

"His attitude has been absolutely brilliant. When you consider he's not got that carrot at the end of the week - he's not got that game - you wouldn't know it from his training performances.

"He's been very good for the other players that are playing. It's been frustrating seeing him because you know you're missing a top quality player. I would love to be able to use him at the moment, but I'm seeing some really good things from him."

Topics: Newcastle United, Sandro Tonali, Blackburn Rovers

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

@joshlawless_