It was a familiar scene at St James’ Park as Newcastle’s players showed their appreciation to the Toon Army after another win – in what is turning into a highly impressive season.
Harvey Barnes, clutching the man of the match award after his two goals inspired a crushing 4-1 victory over Manchester United, led the applause in front of the jubilant home fans.
Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, who also scored, were close by.
But, on closer inspection, there was one notable absentee from the post-match celebrations.
“Hopefully this win will give him back some happiness and he’ll be back for the next one,” said Guimaraes, the captain, in a touching tribute to Eddie Howe.
The Newcastle boss was admitted to hospital on Friday having felt unwell for a number of days, leaving assistants Jason Tindall and Graeme Jones to oversee the win over the Red Devils.
Newcastle’s players responded with an exceptional performance as they recorded a first league double over their opponents since the 1930-31 campaign, but all thoughts turned to Howe after the game.
The man who masterminded their Carabao Cup final triumph over Liverpool at Wembley four weeks ago is still in hospital, although details about his illness remain unclear.
“We knew we had a job to do without him, we said before the game we had to put a smile on his face,” added Barnes.
