Image Credit: Premier League
By Lee Clow
25 August 2019 | Premier League
Tottenham suffer a shock upset and a first defeat this season as they are beaten by Newcastle 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Club record signing Joelinton's first goal in English football was enough for Newcastle United to gain a vital 3 points over Tottenham. Newcastle’s backline defended brilliantly all game, and this prevented Tottenham from creating any clear-cut chances throughout the 90 minutes.
Going into the game, Tottenham were huge favourites having won the past 4 meetings against their opposition, but they had never won a fifth consecutive game and this record continued with today’s defeat. The North London club started slowly, and this set the tempo for majority of the game.
On 21 minutes, Tottenham had a shout for a penalty when Son Heung-min appeared to be brought down, but the call was waved away by referee Mike Dean and eventually agreed by the VAR officials. A few minutes later, the first real clear-cut chance was created, and it surprisingly fell to the away side. Sean Longstaff found some space amongst the Tottenham defence and his shot forced a fine fingertip save from Hugo Lloris.
Shortly after their first attack, Newcastle kept pushing forward and this extra push was soon rewarded with a shock goal. Christian Atsu, who came on as an early substitute for the injured Saint-Maximin, cleverly dinked a cross into Joelinton who controlled excellently and fired low past Hugo Lloris to give the Magpies the lead. The goal was met by huge cheers by the Newcastle faithful but also confusion amongst the Tottenham defence who fell asleep prior to the goal.
Having come from behind in both previous games this season, the goal against Spurs certainly did not faze them. From this point in the game, Spurs raised the tempo, and this resulted in more chances for the home side. Son Heung-min, making his first Tottenham appearance of the season after completing a three-match suspension, saw his half volley beaten away by Martin Dubravka while Lucas Moura came inches away from connecting to Erik Lamela’s cross. The last chance of the first half fell to Son who dragged his shot wide after brilliantly skipping past several defenders.
As the second half kicked off, the pattern of play continued with Spurs having majority of the possession and Newcastle having all 11 men behind the ball. An early chance fell to Lamela who latched onto Son’s deflected effort, but Argentine’s shot was quickly smothered by Dummett.
After the hour mark Tottenham boss, Mauricio Pochettino, decided to make two substitutions to try and change the game by bringing on creative midfielders Christian Eriksen and Giovani Lo Celso. Eriksen, who also came off the bench against Villa, could not change the game as he did on the opening day and this was because of Newcastle’s disciplined back line. The three-man defence of Schär, Lascelles and Dummett were excellent throughout with Harry Kane limited to any significant chance.
Having had VAR on their side last week against Manchester City, Tottenham were now on the receiving end when they were denied a penalty late on. Harry Kane appeared to have been brought down in the box by Lascelles, who lost his footing, but the decision was given against the England striker after a VAR check.
The decision rifled up the Spurs fans as well as the players who continued to look for an equaliser. Lucas Moura blazed an effort over the bar and Kane fluffed his lines from close range, but it was not to be for Pochettino’s side. The final whistle blew, and boos went around the ground as Newcastle picked up a vital three points, their first points of the season.
The result for Spurs leaves them with 4 points from their opening three games, a tally certainly less than they expected. Tottenham only have themselves to blame as they now already face catch up with rivals Liverpool and Manchester City who top the table. For Newcastle, they add their first points of the season to the league table leaving only Watford as the team without any points.
Mauricio Pochettino in his press conference spoke to the media about his disappointment with side’s overall performance against Newcastle. "I am very disappointed with the result and the performance. We conceded a cheap goal and it is not easy to come back after that.” Pochettino continued. "You need the capacity to step up in this type of situation, but we didn't show that quality today. When the ball arrives in the last third you need something from the talent and quality we have there and today we didn't have that."
Newcastle’s boss, Steve Bruce, also spoke to the media after the game. "We needed a bit of courage and thankfully the players had that from the first whistle. We have tried to quieten the storm. Hopefully that will shut a few people up a little bit. After two games, it's been hard to get that criticism. We have had to ride it…I hope that gives us a little a bit of time. It is only the first win, but we have seen some big performances today. They only thing you can do is show that it means something to play for the club."
What’s next?
Before the international break in two weeks, Tottenham have the ‘small’ matter of facing their biggest rivals, Arsenal, at the Emirates for this season’s first North London Derby. Newcastle on the other hand have two games in 6 days, with the first being against Leicester City in the EFL Cup and the second being against Watford in the Premier League.
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