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Spurs (h) Premier League
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Date: Saturday 13th April 2024, 12.30pm Live on TNT Sports Venue: St. James' Park
Conditions: Sound |
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Newcastle |
Spurs |
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4 - 0 |
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| Half time: | 2 - 0 | |
| Score Sheet: | ||
(30) Isak
(32) Gordon
(51) Isak
(87) Schar
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Teams |
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Dubravka J.Murphy Krafth Schar Burn Longstaff Guimaraes Anderson Barnes Gordon Isak |
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Vicario Porro Romero Van de Ven Udogie Bissouma Bentancur Johnson Maddison Werner Son |
| Substitutes: | ||
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(78)
Livramento for J.Murphy (88) Ritchie for Anderson (89) Hall for Barnes (90+2) White for Guimaraes (90+3) Dummett for Schar |
Sarr
for Bentancur (57) Hojbjerg for Bissouma (57) Kulusevski (58) Lo Celso for Maddison (81) |
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| Subs not used: | ||
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Karius Gillespie A.Murphy Parkinson |
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Austin Davies Dragusin Gil |
| Bookings: | ||
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None
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Van
de Ven
Bissouma
Romero
Maddison
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| Dismissals: | ||
| None | None | |
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Referee:
Tim Robinson - a speedy return to Toon duty for the West
Sussex whistler, who oversaw our 3-0 home win over Wolves last month.
Before that, Robinson was in charge of the 4-0 success against Palace at
Gallowgate and 0-3 loss at Everton. |
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Attendance:
52,206 including 3,000 Spurs fans - at least at the start..... The latest Wor Flags offering
was a banner depicting a current Magpies XI of local lads and lifelong Toon fans
(Mark Gillespie, Michael Ndiweni, Paul Dummett, Lewis Miley, Elliot Anderson,
Sean Longstaff, Dan Burn, Jacob Murphy, Joe White, Lewis Hall and Ben
Parkinson).
Kit sponsors SELA donated their front of shirt advertising space for this game
to RNID - the national charity supporting 12 million people in the
UK who are deaf, have hearing loss or Tinnitus.
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Goals |
30 mins A Spurs
attack broke down on the edge of the Newcastle box and was hoisted upfield to
Anthony Gordon, towards the right flank over halfway. He left Destiny Udogie
flailing and falling, before heading goalwards and slipping a pass beyond
Cristian Romero to Alexander Isak.
He coolly left Micky van de Ven on his backside before emphatically firing past
Guglielmo Vicario, initially receiving the ball with his left foot, taking a
steadying touch with his right boot and then pulling the trigger with his right
and placing it to the goalkeeper's right.
TV cameras then captured Dan Burn using BSL to convey a "love the
fans" message. He had met deaf fans at the launch of the haptic shirt and
was taught some sign language by them. 1-0
32 mins Spurs
funnelled the ball back towards their own goal from kick-off, Gordon chasing
down Vicario and forcing him into a hasty clearance towards the touchline on the
Milburn Stand.
Dan Burn beat Brennan Johnson to head the ball forward and that fell to Pedro Porro, who
inexplicably tried to volley the ball back to his goalkeeper. That gifted Anthony
Gordon possession and he dumped van de Ven on his Dutch derriere again,
stepping infield before looping his shot home from six yards out. His subsequent
fist touching celebration wasn't anything to do with BSL. 2-0
Half time: Newcastle 2 Spurs 0
51 mins A Spurs attack broke down outside
the United box and a similar clearance from Bruno to the one that prompted the
opening goal sent Alexander Isak clear, outpacing
Van de Ven before repeating the same three touch combination that brought his
opening goal - putting it to the goalkeeper's left at the Gallowgate End this
time.
Celebrations were slightly muted in anticipation of a VAR check for offside, but
the linesman's decision was ratified with the scorer a yard inside his own half
when Bruno Guimaraes played it forward. 3-0
87 mins Barnes set up Gordon for a shot in the area that looked to be heading in until it bounced off a defender and out of play. The taking of the right wing corner by Gordon was delayed as a visiting defender clung limpet-like to Isak. When the flag kick was belatedly sent over, it fell perfectly for the unmarked Fabian Schar to power a header home. 4-0
Full time: Newcastle 4 Spurs 0
We Said |
Eddie Howe said:
"It was a great performance from us. I thought the players executed everything in a really professional, diligent way. I’m really pleased with the players.
"We protected the lead really well
because we went for more goals and were aggressive still. We looked in a really
great place physically, were able to execute what we wanted to do, and I think
everyone performed at a very good level.
"Tottenham are unique in what they do and we felt we needed to change to
give ourselves the best chance of what we wanted to do.
"I thought tactically it worked, it was a really good delivery from the
players, they always deserve the praise for the execution. Our concentration
levels were really good."
On Fabian Schar:
"This season we've really needed him. he's been the consistent in the
team and he's been incredible on the ball. It's no good being on the ball if
you're defensively not at the highest level but he has been.
" His attitude to defending has been excellent and he deserves a lot of
credit for his performances."
On Bruno Guimaraes avoiding suspension:
"A big relief, for him and for us.
"I was just saying earlier, we had a meeting a long time ago and he promised me he wouldn’t get booked, and I didn’t believe a word of it to be honest!
"Because we had so many games to go and his style of play is what it is, I didn’t think he could control that in the moments he needed to.
"But an amazing thing he’s done for the team because he knew if we lost him we’d be even more depleted. As you saw today, it is so important to us.
"I thought the ironic thing was he’d
get booked after the game which I could not believe so we had to calm him.”
On fringe players:
"I think the emergence of some of the players people wouldn't have
thought would have played will hopefully serve us well for the next few years.
"Elliot Anderson was excellent, he's been trying to burst into the team and
stay in the team."
On whether his side can finish above Manchester United:
"Who knows? We've just got to keep doing our bit which is trying to win
every game. We're hopefully returning to somewhere near our best and we've got
to keep heading in that direction."
On the new Wor Flags "local heroes" banner:
"I wanted to step on the pitch and applaud it."
They Said |
Ange
Postecoglou said:
"It’s a
tough one, a bit raw at the moment.
"Newcastle were good, credit to them, I thought they were really good
today. We just didn't really get a grip of the game at all.
"Right from the start it felt like we allowed Newcastle to dictate the way
the game was played, we never really wrestled control at any stage. We paid a
price for that.
"It ended up being a transition game. A lot of it was self-inflicted by us. We were not brave on the ball. We have been really good this year at understanding that when we have the ball we can be a threat. We just shied away from that today.
"When you do that you allow the game to be played on Newcastle's
terms. When that happens especially away from home it is hard for us to then
claw it back once it has got away from us.
"They pressed us, but no more than other teams
have. We’ve always had solutions to that, but today we didn’t have the
belief or bravery to play our football.
"You can’t sit there and feel sorry for yourself, it’s not the
nature of what we do. There’s some lessons in there and we’ve got to learn
them."
Stats |
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In addition to the one-off front of shirt advertising, the home shirt worn today had an extended white back panel. That had the effect of making names and numbers more readable, providing improved contrast compared to the usual layout when both were placed over stripes. Alexander
Isak reached 17 Premier League goals this season and now has 21
in all competitions. That PL total of 17 has only been exceeded by Callum
Wilson's haul of 18 last season, since Alan Shearer contributed 22 in the
2003/04 campaign. 21 in all competitions is the best by any Magpie since
Shearer's total of 28 in that 2003/04 campaign. 2023/24 won 4-0 Isak 2, Gordon,
Schar
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Waffle |
On a day when they debuted a new sensory shirt benefiting deaf fans,
Newcastle shook Champions League hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur in the Saturday lunchtime
kick-off, those of a home persuasion inside St. James' Park picking up good
vibrations.
Almost a year to the day that they'd pulverised the Cockerels 6-1, there was
little anticipation of a similar showing. As it turned out though, this four
goal victory was every bit as emphatic as 2023's.
Losing Lewis Hall and Joe Willock following the previous Saturday's victory at
Fulham, Eddie Howe adopted a flexible back three/five approach and was able to
name a front trio
comprising of messrs Gordon, Barnes and Isak starting together for the first time.
United started the brighter of the two sides and half chances for Harvey Barnes
and Elliot Anderson in the first quarter could easily have led to the opener,
Timo Werner badly miscuing an even more presentable chance at the other end.
There was a nagging concern that Emil Krafth's lack of pace would be exposed
after he was turned twice early on, but with James Maddison more interested in
fouling and histrionics than using his undoubted skill, that perennial thorn in
our side Son Heung Min was crucially short on support.
Once ahead, United simply blew away the visitors with two goals in each half:
Alexander Isak added a brace to his phenomenal tally on a day when a first Toon
treble was within his grasp. Two expert strikes took him to 21 in all
competitions this season - 17 in the Premier League - Anthony Gordon and Fabian
Schar completing the rout with fine finishes of their own.
Newcastle's opener came on the half hour, Gordon taking Bruno's pass from the
edge of his own area and eluding Destiny Udogie before heading goalwards and
slipping a pass beyond Cristian Romero to Isak. He coolly left Micky van de Ven
on his backside before emphatically firing past Guglielmo Vicario.
He was fishing the ball out of the net again 95 seconds later; Dan Burn's ball
down the left touchline falling to Pedro Porro, who inexplicably tried to volley
the ball back to his goalkeeper. That gifted Gordon possession and he dumped van
de Ven on his Dutch derriere again, stepping infield before looping his shot
home from six yards out.
From then on, Newcastle completely controlled a Spurs side as
nondescript as their kit, seemingly fashioned from old army blankets. Back with
a vengeance was the energetic and aggressive press, crucially combined with
intelligent covering when the visitors threatened to break out.
Visiting boss Ange Postecglou emerged early for the second period but his team
showed rather less enthusiasm and just six minutes into the second half, Isak
strode clear of the Spurs high line to tuck the ball home.
Celebrations were slightly muted in anticipation of a VAR check for offside, but
the linesman's decision was ratified with the scorer a yard inside his own half
when Bruno Guimaraes played it forward.
Three goals to the good, the hosts were content to soak up pressure from a Spurs
side who retained the ball outside the United box but seldom looked like testing
Dubravka. Post-match statistics revealed that United barely had a quarter of
overall possession.
Having won umpteen corners and claimed possession from them without scoring,
Emil Krafth's volley after an 80th minute flag kick looked to have born fruit -
only to glance off the goal frame.
However one of his defensive colleagues would make a late breakthrough, Fabian
Schar powerfully heading home Gordon's corner three minutes from the end to send
the last remaining Spurs fans to the exits, with chants of "it's
happened again" ringing in their ears from gloating home followers.
They may have come at different times and in different contexts - notably the
day that an already relegated Magpies side wiped the floor with Spurs here in
2016 - but the delicious delight in sticking it up this lot at Gallowgate never
gets old.
Three points took Newcastle above West Ham and Manchester United into sixth -
our highest placing since last December. Howe's side then retained that position
on goal difference after the Red Devils drew 2-2 at Bournemouth on Saturday
teatime.
Sunday then brought the bonus of a 0-2 home loss for West Ham at the hands of
Fulham, leaving the Hammers two points behind Newcastle and having now played a
game more than ourselves.
Despite the ongoing dismay over not beating Everton here, ten points out of 12
since losing the FA Cup Quarter Final has rekindled our season, not only in the
stands but also in the dressing room.
That's despite the ongoing injury issues and unexplained absence of Trippier
from the squad, involved in promotional work with the RNID shirt but absent from
the post-match victory photo.
Howe has been unfairly compared to more illustrious bosses by some in recent
weeks, but today this victory was achieved by a side doing it his way,
disciplined, dangerous and organised.
Biffa/Niall MacKenzie