00:00Newcastle United progressed into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup for the fourth season in a row
00:08with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at St James' Park.
00:12Head coach Eddie Howe spoke highly of his players' attitudes during the match
00:18and also praised midfielder Sandro Tonali, who put in a man-of-the-match performance in Newcastle's victory over Spurs.
00:25Yeah, really pleasing. I think testaments of the squad, testaments of the attitude of the players.
00:32I thought everyone played with the right spirit today, the right determination, the will to win was there.
00:39We didn't have our own way. It was a really hard-fought win.
00:42It was mainly very, very positive, though, and yeah, really pleased for the squad today.
00:48Yeah, I thought he was excellent today. He's full of energy, outstanding, both in and out of possession.
00:54So, yeah, very pleased for Sandro. He's had a nasty illness, actually, and it knocked him a little bit.
00:59But he was very honest about initially saying that he couldn't perform for the team, so we left him out.
01:07And today was the right time to bring him back in, and he looked 100% fit and, yeah, delighted with his performance.
01:12Meanwhile, Sunderland head coach Regis Lebris has praised experienced Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka as being a vital part of the Black Cats Premier League squad this season.
01:26Xhaka was instrumental in Sunderland's 2-1 victory over Chelsea at the weekend in the Premier League.
01:32Yeah, it's vital, crucial, because the balance is really positive, and Granit is the captain, so he set the standards every day.
01:43So it's so important when you start a new career, you can be really talented, really skilled,
01:50but you don't know what are the standards to succeed at the best level, and so he set this example every day.
01:58On the pitch, he's a really good footballer, and he likes and enjoys driving the behaviour of the squad,
02:07so it's like a second coach on the pitch, and I think he's really well connected with the young lads as well.
02:14I think he's really good, and I think he's really good, and I think he's really good, and I think he's really good at the end of the game.
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