Alexander Isak bagged the winner for Newcastle United as they scraped another home win despite being second-best for most of the game.
As is now the trend, Newcastle started the game well and ended it well. If we could play the middle hour as well as we do the first and last 15 minutes, we'd have no worries.
Tottenham Hostpur absolutely dominated the game, so much so that I got the obligatory "It's like the Alamo" text off my Dad midway through the second half.
However, for all their dominance, and despite Nick Pope's best efforts, Spurs never really looked like scoring.
Newcastle took the lead against the run of play in the first half thanks to a sumptuous Harvey Barnes finish after Lloyd Kelly, who had a great game, played the ball into the box for Barnes to guide a half volley beyond Guglielmo Vicario.
We assume that Eddie Howe's team talk went something like "Well done lads, that's the game won, just go out there and get some fresh air" because as we were nowhere to be seen in the second half until late on.
Despite Spurs having 20 shots to our nine, it took a combination of a Nick Pope howler and a Dan Burn spooned clearance for Spurs to score. Pope parried the ball away following a weak shot when he could have just hung on to it - not the first time he committed that crime either - and the ball was played back across the face of goal, Pope got a tip to it and Burn, trying to clear it off the line ended up hoofing the ball into the roof of the net.
Eddie Howe made a big change which saw Jacob Murphy replace Harvey Barnes even though our midfield three were all on yellow cards. Murphy struggled to get into the game, giving the ball away on several occasions.
Shortly after, Sandro Tonali and Lewis Hall entered the fray and the pace started to pick up a bit for the home side.
Joelinton played a stunning 30-yard through ball for Jacob Murphy who, along with Isak were in a two-on-one situation with Vicario as Murphy squared it to Isak for the Swede to tap home for his first goal of the season. It wasn't a bad way for Murphy to redeem himself, but all credit goes to Joelinton for the through ball.
Spurs kept coming but, as mentioned before, never genuinely looked like scoring and Newcastle managed to see the game out picking up another scrappy win. But it's not how you get the points as long as you get them.
Howay Eddie Howe's Undefeated Mags!
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
12 | 16 | 31 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
12 | 5 | 23 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
4 |
Arsenal
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
5 |
Brighton
|
12 | 5 | 22 |
6 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
12 | 14 | 19 |
7 |
Nottingham Forest
|
12 | 2 | 19 |
8 |
Aston Villa
|
12 | 0 | 19 |
9 |
Fulham
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
10 |
Newcastle United
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
11 |
Brentford
|
12 | 0 | 17 |
12 |
Manchester United
|
12 | 0 | 16 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
12 | -1 | 15 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
12 | -4 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
12 | -7 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
12 | -8 | 10 |
17 |
Wolves
|
12 | -8 | 9 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
12 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Crystal Palace
|
12 | -7 | 8 |
20 |
Southampton
|
12 | -15 | 4 |