Newcastle have beaten Aston Villa 5-1, a game that saw two big-money arrivals score goals. Sandro Tonali opened the score for the Magpies and Moussa Diaby quickly equalised for the Villans.
But both offered more than just goals and in this article, we look at their respective performances more closely.
⚫⚪Sandro Tonali
The 23-year-old arrived for a rumoured £55m and if his first game is anything to go by, he might as well end up as a bargain.
Tonali opened the scoring with a thundering header -- right place, right time. He was close to scoring Newcastle's second but was denied by Emi Martinez.
But goals aren't primarily what Tonali was brought in for. Eddie Howe needs intensity from his players and box-to-box Tonali gives him that.
The Italian was spotted on both ends of the pitch: disrupting Villa's attacks, scoring and assisting. He made 64 touches and was pretty much everywhere, as shown on his heatmap.
There's everything to suggest Tonali is the Man of the Match even despite the fact many other Newcastle players had a fantastic day.
Tonali's rating on debut: 9/10
🟣🔴 Moussa Diaby
The 24-year-old cost Aston Villa £52m and you could see flashes of that quality. The Frenchman was at his best when it was time to escape on a counterattack -- his pace mesmerised and he always found channels to run into.
Sadly for Villa, they only lasted one half before Newcastle took matters into their hands. But in that one half, Diaby scored the equaliser with a cold-blood finish and actually contributed to the build-up to that attack.
Just like Tonali, Diaby was probably the Man of the Match for his team and is one of the few to go home with his head held high.
Diaby's rating on debut: 7.5/10
