Tottenham 4 Newcastle 1
Tottenham had gone five games without a win, sitting pretty at the top of the table all seems like a fever-induced dream now. They welcomed Newcastle to North London, hoping to get back to winning ways to get their season back on track.
Newcastle had been plagued with injuries, which everyone associated to the club was more than happy to tell you about. You could almost feel sorry for the lack of depth in their squad, if they weren’t one of the richest clubs in the world with the bottomless pockets of the Saudi state at their disposal.
The visitors were to have the first chance of the game as Joelinton got to the byline and laid it off into the path of Guimaraes on the edge of the box. He hit a shot first time but sliced it narrowly wide of the top corner.
Gordon was then played in down the left wing, showing the Spurs’ defence his pace as he left them for dead. He looked up to see two Newcastle players in the box and squared the ball across goal but, somehow, Ben Davies got a touch to it to take it away from Isak and Almiron.
Credit: @premierleague
The hosts then forced a corner and as it was whipped in, Romero headed it towards goal, but Almiron cleared it off the line. It was the first sight of goal for Ange Postecoglou’s side and had the crowd up out of their seats.
Soon after, Son did well down the left getting to the byline and as he whipped it across the six yard box, Udogie arrived to knock the ball into the net. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium erupted as they took the lead once again.
In their last five games, Postecoglou’s side had taken the lead in each of those games, only to lose four of them and draw the other. As a result, there was an air of tension in the ground, worried of lightening striking for a sixth time.
Brennan Johnson then did well down the right and saw three Tottenham players screaming for the ball in the box. He whipped the ball in, only to see Sarr divert the cross wide of the far post. So close, but no cigar.
The fans did not have to wait long as Son caused more issues down the left, he saw Richarlison, cut the ball back to him and he slotted home. It was a much-needed goal for the Brazilian who had failed to rediscover his Everton form since joining the North London outfit.
After costing Spurs £60m, he had started to look like the worst Brazilian export since the Zika virus. Richarlison has the confidence and swagger of a world-beater but without delivering the goals, it can just seem like an attitude problem.
Credit: @SpursOfficial
Tottenham continued to press and Johnson fired a shot off from the edge of the box but his effort clipped the outside of the post. Son then found Kulusevski, whose deflected ball looped up to the back post but somehow Richarlison missed the ball completely.
Into the second half and Porro clipped a beautiful ball over the top of the Newcastle defence. Richarlison’s touch was not the best but Dubravka committed himself, allowing the Brazilian to slot the ball home.
The hosts were growing in confidence more and more and as Johnson tried his luck with a side-footed effort, he saw it come thundering back off the post. The Spurs’ faithful were loving what they were seeing from their side.
As Newcastle looked to try and find a way back into the game, the ball was played to Wilson, who turned towards goal. Out of nowhere, the loose cannon that is Cristian Romero came flying in. He missed the ball completely and caught The Magpies’ striker high up the ankle.
Incredibly, VAR reviewed this and decided there was no further action. These decisions are going from the bizarre to the sublime. There was no doubt the Spurs’ defender should have got a straight red card. Words just cannot defend the incompetency of these people.
The only way you could justify what is going on this season is if they are being provided free Class A drugs as part of their payment. ‘Okay, here we go lads……there’s your seats, there’s the monitors and if anyone fancies it……there’s some crackpipes and rocks in the corner.’
Porro fed the ball into Son, his first touch was poor but as Dubravka came out he took the ball around him, the Newcastle keeper caught the striker and brought him down. The referee immediately pointed to the spot without a second thought.
Son stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom corner with Dubravka unable to get to it, despite going the right way. This was starting to look like the perfect response to their recent poor run as Tottenham made it four-nil.
Clean sheets are a rarity for Spurs of late and this was to be the case again. Newcastle broke and Wilson headed towards goal before unselfishly squaring the ball to Joelinton to stroke the ball home. It was nothing but a mere consolation for the travelling fans who had made the long trip to London.
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