To the delight of those who had left Tyneside at an ungodly hour - and overcome the seemingly inevitable rail disruption that blights this fixture - Newcastle's winning run continued into 2025.

What ended up as a magical December was for once extended into January; Eddie Howe's side avoiding our usual January comedown and kicking off the near year with a first win since 2018.

Extra time goals had blighted United's trio of London visits this season, but there was to be no repeat of the anguish at Fulham, Brentford and Crystal Palace despite an indicated 10 additional second half minutes that was extended to a fraction under 13 minutes before the whistle finally sounded.   

Fabian Schar's suspension prompted what seemed like a risky recall for Sven Botman, although it was claimed that only illness prevented his inclusion in the squad for Old Trafford. His return seemed like anything but a vote of confidence in Lloyd Kelly, who had started against Spurs on Tyneside and was well versed in the ways of his former Bournemouth colleague Dominic Solanke.  

Botman's first senior outing in nine months didn't begin brilliantly as he was unable to prevent Solanke from heading home Pedro Porro's centre in only the fourth minute of play.

Both sides had a recent habit of scoring early goals and that was to continue as Anthony Gordon almost immediately beat debutant goalkeeper Brandon Austin for 1-1. The 140 second gap between the two goals was then eclipsed by the time taken for VAR to decree that Joelinton's handball earlier in the move was accidental and therefore legal.

After failing to make sufficient contact from a right wing centre by Jacob Murphy, Alexander Isak was more successful when the same player crossed seven minutes before half-time; netting for a seventh successive Premier League game and extending his seasonal league and cup tally to 14.

Weakened by injury, illness and suspension, Ange Postecoglu's depleted Cockerels were clearly wilting at that point, but no decisive third goal came and the hosts improved after the interval - a treble switch on the hour bringing Son to the fray and waking up the Korean contingent in attendance.

Despite Spurs' increased possession they created very little though and although Brennan Johnson hit the post from an impossible angle, only a bending James Maddison shot worried a defence in which Tino Livramento returned as Kieran Trippier dropped down to the bench.

What action there was at the other end saw Gordon wastefully fire over after Tonali saw his shot blocked by Austin. Substitute Harvey Barnes saw his shot in added time saved, but as had been the case at Old Trafford on Monday, Newcastle rarely looked like adding to the score in the second half. 

Instead, they concentrated their energies on seeing the game out and were ultimately successful, not least because of the collective effort exemplified by Sandro Tonali's calmness deep into time added on. Form is crucially allied to fitness in this group of players.  

For anyone who didn't see the full game, the closing stages saw Bruno in full crowd pleasing mode - imploring greater levels of support one minute, lustily celebrating the gaining of a throw-in the next. It later transpired that his lass and Joelinton's were among those responding in the away end.

Livramento was injured early on but continued and Botman played 92 minutes before limping off with what looked like a calf muscle injury but was thankfully explained as nothing but cramp.

Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock and Lloyd Kelly had all been introduced to shore-up the visitors and thankfully that proved to be the case despite Madley's reluctance to blow his final whistle.

Much was made post-match of the handball that was permitted in the build-up to Gordon's goal, especially by the ground-staring Gruffalo in charge of this lot, but there were a host of other incidents occupying the officials in the stadium and at Stockley Park.

Dan Burn escaped a second yellow for a debatable handball while Joelinton evaded censure for what looked a lot like an elbow. Of equal note were Solanke's uncommented drop kick on Dubravka and a blatant body-check by Dejan Kulusevski that left Gordon bloodied in the box - a solid penalty shout.

Victory saw Newcastle stay fifth, joining Chelsea on 35 points before the afternoon's matches, which saw the Blues draw at Palace. Home wins for Manchester City, Bournemouth and Aston Villa kept it tight in the teams chasing the top four.

Arsenal having to fight for the full 96 minutes for their point at Brighton meanwhile ahead of this Tuesday's semi-final first leg in North London wasn't the worst of scenarios. That's the third leg of what appeared to be a daunting road trip, with the first two accomplished successfully. Game on.

Biffa