At least it was not quite as bad as last year for Tottenham. Almost exactly 12 months ago, Antonio Conte’s interim successor, Cristian Stellini, presided over a 6-1 defeat here that confirmed things were seriously awry in north London and set in motion a chain of events concluding with Ange Postecoglou breathing new life into the team.
The Australian’s rescue and reform act seemed to be generally working nicely until Tottenham suffered a relapse on Tyneside sufficiently severe to threaten their hopes of Champions League qualification.
Spurs arrived in the north-east with fourth place in the Premier League within touching distance and many of their fans increasingly convinced Postecoglou’s refreshing brand of management was going a long way towards correcting deep-seated flaws. They left it with the “can we play you every week?” taunts of Newcastle supporters ringing in their ears.
As Eddie Howe’s injury-ravaged side emphasised their desperation to qualify for Europe, Newcatle’s Sweden striker Alexander Isak seemed capable of pipping Manchester City’s Erling Haaland to the golden boot and the winger Anthony Gordon looked set to book a place on England’s flight to Euro 2024 in Germany, Spurs were haunted by the ghosts of not merely last April but also May 2016, when Mauricio Pochettino’s side were thrashed 5-1 by Rafael Benítez’s hitherto strugglers.
Before kick-off Tottenham’s chairman, Daniel Levy, laid a wreath in the precincts of St James’ Park in memory of Joe Kinnear, the long-serving Spurs full-back and, briefly, Newcastle manager who died last Sunday.
At his peak, Kinnear was an excellent player and a very good manager, most notably of Wimbledon, but by the time he reached a final posting on Tyneside his health was failing and a few chaotic months ensued. Perhaps fittingly, there was more than an element of chaos about this collision of two of his old teams who remain far better at attacking than defending.
It all began with Tottenham’s Timo Werner volleying high and wide after meeting Brennan Johnson’s cross but it was not long before Harvey Barnes missed a similarly inviting chance at the opposite end, the Newcastle winger failing to properly control a bouncing ball following Gordon’s fine through pass. Johnson certainly possessed the pace to outstrip Howe’s left-back, Dan Burn, which made Newcastle’s decision shortly after kick-off to switch to a back three, with Jacob Murphy pushed forward from right-back, seem a high-risk tactic.
Howe though evidently knew what he was doing as his side swiftly scored two goals in two minutes. Both involved Micky van de Ven falling over at precisely the wrong moment. The defender’s first slip permitted Isak to direct a shot beyond Guglielmo Vicario’s reach and the second allowed the impressive Gordon to send another shot curving into the back of the net from a tight angle as Newcastle pressed high and hard.
Hats off to Gordon for shrugging off Destiny Udogie before supplying Isak with a beautifully calibrated pass for the opening goal that saw the very much in-form striker played onside by the unfortunate Van de Ven.
Gordon had been furious when James Maddison went unpunished after blatantly bodychecking him, but for long periods that was about as close as any of Postecoglou’s players got to the winger. Tottenham’s manager looked slightly stunned and shook his head repeatedly as the gloriously elusive Isak reprised his hallmark impression of a gazelle on casters and came close to scoring another couple of goals before half-time.
after newsletter promotion
He and Gordon had certainly made a strong case for possession being overrated. Spurs had enjoyed more than two-thirds of it, yet with Van de Ven enduring the sort of game in which calamity stalked his every intervention, it will be no surprise if his nightmares are inhabited by mortifying one-on-ones involving the two attackers outmanoeuvring him at every turn.
It soon got worse for Spurs. When Bruno Guimarães destabilised Postecoglou’s backline courtesy of a routine lofted through ball, the visiting defence was bisected once more and Isak left clean through with the slapdash Van de Ven left trailing in his wake and only the unprotected Vicario to beat. The Swede made no mistake, scoring his 17th Premier League goal of the season and fifth in his past four games.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for ‘The Guardian’.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
","credit":""}” config=”{"renderingTarget":"Web","darkModeAvailable":false}”>
Quick Guide
How do I sign up for sport breaking news alerts?
Show
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for ‘The Guardian’.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Perhaps anxious not to be upstaged the Sweden defender Emil Krafth subsequently hit a post but it was his central defensive partner, Switzerland’s Fabian Schär, who scored the fourth. Schär may not attract the same volume of headlines as Isak and Gordon but the ball-playing centre-half is another strong contender for his club’s player of the season.
Schär crowned another stellar afternoon by rising unmarked to meet Gordon’s corner and compound Tottenham’s misery by heading Newcastle’s final blow.