Newcastle United battered Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 at St James' Park on Saturday afternoon and could easily have surpassed the insanity of last season's 6-1 victory by the time Tim Robinson called time on a wholly enjoyable one-sided contest.
After a fairly even opening 25 minutes, the Magpies took control and went deservedly ahead through the ice-cold Alexander Isak at the half-hour mark. A quick second from the brilliant Anthony Gordon followed, with the winger again outstanding in every respect.
Things didn't feel particularly comfortable at 2-0 despite Spurs offering little, but Isak put the game to bed six minutes into the second half after a wonderful lofted through ball from Bruno Guimarães—who avoided a two-match ban by steering clear of a 10th yellow card.
All that was left was for the imperious Fabian Schär to wrap things up from a Gordon corner in the 87th minute, with the home crowd serenading their remaining North London visitors with choruses of 'Tottenham Hotspur, it's happening again!' in the closing moments.
Eddie Howe and his players deserve immense credit for this win and for collecting ten points from the last 12 available despite a still-ridiculous injury list. There wasn't a poor performance from a home player here on another wonderful day following this football club.
While he still inspires little confidence due to his hesitancy to sweep, he deserves credit for back-to-back clean sheets and much-improved handling in recent weeks. A couple of hair-raising moments aside he did well enough in this one, making a couple of routine saves.
Although moved inside to play as a right-centre-back, Krafth looked more comfortable than he has done since his return from injury. Like Burn, he possibly benefits from just being asked to defend rather than contribute anything in attack, and he did that well enough.
We've said it a few times this season, but Fabian Schär is the best all-round centre-back we've seen in our lifetime as Newcastle supporters. He was tremendous yet again and deserved his goal after the travesty of his disallowed effort at Fulham last week.
Fielded in a hybrid left-centre-back/left-back role due to Howe's tweaked tactical approach, Burn continued his fantastic form since having his remit simplified. He seems to have grown in stature having been given the armband, too, and must've loved the Wor Flags display.
Deployed as a right-back due to our ridiculous injury situation in defence, Murph put in a solid hard-working shift against a tricky opponent in Werner. He did lose the German on two occasions, but the Spurs man fluffed the chances that came his way, as he tends to do.
This was much more like it from Longstaff, who probably benefitted more than anyone from having a week between matches. While still not reaching the heights of last season due to his ongoing foot issue, he covered loads of ground and helped to limit Tottenham's threat.
Involved far less than usual due to our tactical approach, Bruno still came up with a cracking assist for Isak to seal the game just after half-time. He played with huge intensity and yet again avoided a yellow card, which means he is now safe from censure. He's done superbly.
What a player this young man could yet turn out to be. Asked to effectively become Joelinton by Howe, he stepped up to the plate. A left-sided central midfielder in attack, he dropped into left wing-back in defence, showing supreme tactical awareness.
If Anthony Gordon doesn't go to the Euros it'd be a travesty. Despite being asked to swap flanks here due to a lack of alternatives, he came up with two assists and a brilliant solo goal. His set-piece delivery was also outstanding throughout, which was an unexpected bonus.
He'll get the hat trick one day, we're sure of it! Our Swedish superstar will have to settle for yet another brace for now. Both of his finishes were out of the top drawer, but he could've scored a hatful given how poor Spurs were defensively. He's just such a joy to watch.
We finally got to see our most dangerous attacking trio fielded together and it didn't disappoint. Barnes didn't reach the heights of Gordon or Isak but contributed plenty to the victory. He plays with such directness and purpose and is going to be loved here.
A surprise inclusion on the bench having missed training for much of the week, Tino didn't have to do too much when replacing Murphy in the 78th minute.
Much like Livramento it was a pleasant surprise to see Hall on the bench here, though he only got the briefest of runouts.
We always enjoy a Matt Ritchie cameo at St James' and it was no different here. He even managed a few touches of the ball in this one.
These are the sort of circumstances we don't mind seeing Dummett in, though we have to admit we did fear for our clean sheet when we saw him warming up.
The young midfielder didn't manage to get a touch of the ball, but it was nice to see him involved after his appearance in the Wor Flags display pre-match.
Now comes a ten-day wait for Newcastle's next Premier League fixture, with a trip to Selhurst Park for an 8 p.m. BST kick-off against Crystal Palace set for Wednesday 24th April.
The Eagles sit 15th in the division at the time of writing, with their next game at Anfield against Liverpool today (Sunday) and then a home game against West Ham on Sunday 21st.
For once, we'll be the fresher of the two teams and might even have a few more back from injury, with Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Joe Willock, Joelinton, and Miguel Almirón all getting closer.
Howay the lads!
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
13 | 18 | 34 |
2 |
Arsenal
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
4 |
Brighton
|
13 | 5 | 23 |
5 |
Manchester City
|
13 | 3 | 23 |
6 |
Nottingham Forest
|
13 | 3 | 22 |
7 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
13 | 14 | 20 |
8 |
Brentford
|
13 | 3 | 20 |
9 |
Manchester United
|
13 | 4 | 19 |
10 |
Fulham
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
11 |
Newcastle United
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
12 |
Aston Villa
|
13 | -3 | 19 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
13 | 1 | 18 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
13 | -7 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
13 | -11 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
13 | -11 | 10 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
13 | -7 | 9 |
18 |
Wolves
|
13 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Ipswich
|
13 | -11 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
13 | -15 | 5 |