Newcastle's recent mini revival may have halted at White Hart Lane, but a season on from a 0-5 demolition here mercifully omitted from our end of season compilation, there were at least some positive aspects to take from this loss, rather than sheer relief at hearing the final whistle.

The much-coveted Gareth Bale ultimately proved to be the difference between the two teams and the on-fire Welsh dragon gave his side the ideal platform with a free kick conversion before the visitors had drawn breath. 

Crucially this season though, the deficit stayed at one goal and failed to become 0-2 and 0-3, with opportunities of the type that were buried last season whistling past Tim Krul's goal instead. And with the home side lacking inspiration, United gradually fought their way back and missed one good opportunity to level when Papiss headed Coloccini's centre wide when well placed.

A deserved equaliser did arrive though, Yoan Gouffran getting off the mark for his new club and registereding our first goal at White Hart Lane in a minute over five hours of play. And with Spurs creating little in the absence of the injured Jermain Defoe, United shaded the remainder of the half - Clint Dempsey well shackled up front and Bale well marshalled by Mathieu Debuchy out on the left.

Meanwhile, Yohan Cabaye almost got on the end of a Jonas Gutierrez pass but the Frenchman's first touch was heavy and Lloris was able to shepherd the ball away.

Once again United started the second period slowly, but Krul still wasn't being tested by anything other than speculative long shots, Emmanuel Adebayor remaining on the Spurs bench after his belated return from African Nations Cup duty in South Africa with Togo.

What proved to be a pivotal moment though saw Gouffran stretchered off after a 55th minute incident when Kyle Walker followed through with a clearance and caught him full on the shin. The former Bordeaux man went down in some pain and needed oxygen before he was stretchered from the field and to a nearby hospital, where a precautionary x-ray thankfully showed no broken bones. 

Instinct suggests that Walker's contact had some intent in it and his body language - and past history - points towards a level of opportunism in the challenge. James Perch then clattered Bale on the touchline and the Spurs man appeared to be badly hurt, but carried on after having his ankle sprayed. Quite why the game had to be stopped while this took place remains a mystery though...

There was less doubt about Cabaye's challenge on Mousa Dembele and he was lucky not to see red after leaving his studs on the Belgian's ankle in the 89th minute - with the nearby Cheick Tiote not quite so fortunate earlier in the season against the mackems.

by then United were chasing an equaliser and Bale then had a trio of chances to claim the match ball, missing an open goal with his right foot and then seeing Krul make two fine interventions from shots from the edge of the box - tipping one over the bar and palming another low effort away.

With Sylvain Marveaux having replaced Gouffran in what proved to be a failed like-for-like swap, Shola Ameobi appeared in place of Jonas to offer belated support to Cisse. The man who looked at one stage as if he'd be playing this weekend for Nigeria then almost salvaged a point, but could only awkwardly toe-poke the ball goalwards when it to him in the area - and Lloris smothering his effort.

Over eight minutes of added time - due mainly to the Gouffran injury - failed to allow United to break the maroon shirt hoodoo, this our sixth competitive winless game wearing it. And closer inspection of this record confirms that we've never even managed to take the lead clad in this unloved clobber.

The scoreline suggests an unwanted reversion to type on our travels, but the display was largely encouraging and not the worst return from what was perhaps the most tricky of our remaining domestic fixtures with the exception of the visit to Manchester City. A lack of forward momentum during the second half was concerning though, with nobody willing to capitalise on the players Cisse dragged towards him whenever he had possession - three opponents routinely clustering round him.

Results elsewhere on Saturday meant that daylight remains between us and the relegation zone, although Aston Villa's victory over West Ham the following day gave them a welcome boost at the expense of a West Ham side whose win on Tyneside was a rare away day success for Big Sham.  

Next up in the Premier League is a home game against Southampton in a fortnight, with the Saints bolstered by a surprise defeat of Champions Manchester City at St. Marys on Saturday night. That put them level with us and ahead on goal difference, adding extra spice to a game that will come immediately after our Europa League away tie in Kharkiv. 

The installation of Mauricio Pochettino in place of Nigel Adkins has seen some better performances from the Saints, with their away results remaining decent - a narrow 1-2 loss at Old Trafford their only defeat on the road in six outings. 

Having seen both Reading and West Ham leave SJP with maximum points so far this season, Alan Pardew will doubtless be desperate to avoid a defeat by another one of his former clubs. The return of Hatem Ben Arfa could potentially be a game-changer - a player who at his best is unplayable. Much like Gareth Bale today.

Biffa