Sandro Tonali insisted his relationship with Eddie Howe is “not broken” after scoring twice in Newcastle’s controversial FA Cup win over Aston Villa.

The midfielder produced his best display in weeks as Newcastleovercame a string of contentious decisionsand a red card for Marco Bizot to progress to the fifth round.

Tonali’s celebrations drew as much attention as his goals. After racing away for his first, he later sprinted to embrace Howe following his second, a moment that came after renewed speculation over his future.

Arsenal were linked with the Italy international on deadline day, with reports suggesting an intermediary had offered him to the Gunners. While both clubs played down the claims, Tonali’s agent later indicated talks over his future would take place at the end of the season.

At the same time, Newcastle have been credited with interest in midfield reinforcements this summer, including Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini, fuelling talk that the club could be preparing for life without Tonali.

“The first one, this celebration was, I think, seven months without scoring; if you don’t score for seven months, after the first goal, you celebrate for ten or 11 goals – like Bruno (Guimar?es)!” he said.

“But after the second goal, I came to Eddie (Howe) because in the past few weeks, people spoke about our relationship, but I work every day with the gaffer, the gaffer works every day with me, and our relationship is perfect. It’s not broken and I think this is perfect for the team.

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“We try to do the best for this team, every game, because we play a lot of games – every three days, we play, and we have to be concentrated every time in the training ground to do the best for our team.”

Tonali’s form had dipped in recent months, prompting further scrutiny as Newcastle battled for consistency across competitions.

Against Villa, however, he was central to the comeback, driving his side forward amid the chaos of an afternoon dominated by officiating controversy.

Both Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney were critical of the referee’s performance. Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett backed up their views.

“The challenge by Digne should have received a red card,” he said. “It was clear serious foul play.”

Hackett also questioned the handball decision.

“Oh dear. Referee Chris Kavanagh really should have received appropriate intervention by the assistant to advise that it was in the penalty area.”

Newcastle have now won back-to-back games away from St James’ Park and face another demanding trip in midweek as they face Qarabag.

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