| Match report
An away opening day fixture (no
surprise there Premier League) at Newcastle United saw an unchanged
Tottenham squad after the inactivity in the transfer window take on
a Magpies side who had signed some players, but Rafa Bentitez left
them on the bench and at the end of the match, it was the Spurs fans
who were happiest, celebrating a 2-1 win and a good start to what
will be a long campaign.
Spurs kicked off and
attacked the Gallowgate end in the early afternoon sunshine,
sporting a rather fetching jade and mint green third kit. When
I say fetching, I don't mean attractive, I mean gut wrenching.
The money that is sloshing around in football at the moment is
nauseating, but when you consider that someone has been paid a large
sum of crisp plastic notes to create this absurdity, you wonder if
the world has gone mad. Anyway, the players inside the shirts
were familiar, but Trippier was missing and Aurier slotted in at
right back, while Lucas came in for Son. Otherwise, it was a
set-up that was something approximating to our strongest side.
An early free-kick for a scything tackle on Sissoko by Clark near
the dead ball line gave Tottenham an opportunity to have a first go
at goal and a short set-piece worked by Christian Eriksen and Ben
Davies ended with the Welshman shooting from just inside the right
side of the box, but it was blocked away. Tottenham were sharp in
the opening stages and created a crossing chance from the right that
found Dele beyond the far post. His dinked effort back was to come
to nothing though. The Toon Army’s booing showed how they have
little else to worry about, which is odd considering they hate their
board so much. The only thing they had to cheer was a free kick that
Shelvey took and when it was kept alive Matt Ritchie, sporting a
hilariously prematurely grey quiff, smashed a shot about 15 yards
wide.
When Eriksen decided to have
a shot from 25 yards out, it was going wide, but Dubravka dived to
touch it wide, giving Christian the chance to put a corner into the
heart of the Newcastle box. Sanchez won the ball and headed down for
Jan Vertonghen to get in at the far post and head at goal from close
range, beating Dummett to the ball. Jan’s effort hit the underside
of the bar and the keeper pushed it out, but Martin Atkinson’s watch
buzzed and it wasn’t a message from Roman Abramovich telling him to
send a Spurs player off, but to signal the ball had crossed the line
before Dubravka got to it.
It was a boost to the side and the fans after the lack of activity
in the transfer window and one that has been a long time coming for
SuperJan in the League !!
However, Newcastle were soon
level in the eleventh minute, when Ritchie cut back onto his left
foot on the right wing to put in an in-swinging cross that Joselu
ghosted in behind Sanchez to glance a header to Lloris’ right from
five yards out and tie it up at 1-1. It came out of the blue, but it
was a good cross and loose marking by Spurs to allow someone like
Joselu that much space.
Tottenham kept the tempo and
their passing going and when Kane tried to slip a pass through into
the box, it was blocked, but fell to Serge Aurier, who crossed first
time. His ball was perfect for Dele to make his run in behind a
sleeping Andre Yedlin to put his header back across the keeper to
find the net and restore Tottenham’s lead in the 18th minute.
The game settled down a bit
and there were few chances, but Kane’s searching diagonal ball
looking for Dele in the box saw the keeper come for it, but Dummett
headed it out first. Unfortunately, the ball didn’t drop for Aurier,
as it bounced up and he had to control it and come inside before he
chose to shoot at goal, but his left foot effort went a long way
wide.
Spurs allowed Newcastle to
enjoy some spells of possession, without creating much and it was
the green shirted side who looked more dangerous on the break as the
home team committed players forward. The home fans only got excited
when Sissoko went near the ball, Lloris kicked the ball out of play
or they thought they should have had a decision go their way.
On 36 minutes, Davies played a ball into Kane just inside the area
on the left, but his turn and cross bounced away off a striped shirt
for a corner. From it, Eriksen put a pacy ball into the near post
and Sanchez met it, but his glancing header, getting in front of
Shelvey, went wide of the far post. Then a corner at the other end
saw Sissoko head the ball up into the air an when it eventually came
down, Ciaran Clark hit a left foot volley from the left side, which
went across goal with nobody there to get a touch.
The start of the second half
and Newcastle are never a good mix for Spurs and within two minutes,
Shelvey won a header to a bell that had gone a mile into the air and
it dropped to Diame on the left of the penalty spot to crash a shot
at goal. Hugo Lloris was beaten, but was pleased to see the ball
bounce away off the post, such was the ferocity of the shot. A
couple pf minutes later, Aurier put in a left foot cross from the
right wing and Dele kneed the ball back across goal where it was
cleared. He almost repeated the effort when Kane missed a ball
across the box and Dele was in the clear, but could only loop the
ball upwards and Dubravka grabbed it under his bar.
Newcastle should have been
on level terms when Joselu on the right of the area picked out a
pass across the area to put Kenedy in on goal totally in the clear.
Lloris stood on his line, but timed his dash out after the Brazilian
had taken a heavy touch and although he only blocked the ball, it
was enough to force the winger to knock the ball across goal and
Diame couldn’t bring it under control to make much of it.
With 55 minutes gone,
Tottenham worked the ball well across the width of the pitch and
when Kane nodded it on to Davies behind him on the left, his low
driven cross was pulled back for Sissoko to turn it towards goal.
Only a sharp save from Dubravka denied him and then another cross
from the right from Eriksen saw Moussa robbed of an opening when
Lascelles headed for a corner. From it, the ball was cleared, but
when it came back in from Aurier, Sanchez got to it on beyond the
far and his falling volley went over from a very difficult angle.
A corner at the Spurs end
brought a melee with the ball in the air and Lascelles going for it
with his hand before it dropped to Ayoze Perez and Lloris had to
make a good save as it came through Dele’s legs at the far post.
Kenedy fired a 20 yard shot way over the bar, as substitute Salomon
Rondon looked to unsettle the Spurs defence. Tottenham were finding
it hard to get the ball clear and when Lloris put the ball out for
Perez to get treatment, the Newcastle forward had got up and the
home team did not feel that they were required to return the ball.
Eric Dier had picked up a yellow card in the first half and
committed a couple of fouls in the second, but Pochettino decided to
bring on Mousa Dembele in place of Lucas Moura instead, with the
Brazilian having had a decent game. The Belgian had a shot over the
bar a few minutes after he came on, but his worth was in being
available to take the ball in tight spaces and hold onto it. That
was something Harry Kane was having a problem with today, as he
uncharacteristically let the ball get away from him or gave away
possession with loose passes. His involvement had been in the
build-up, rather than being at the sharp end of Tottenham’s attacks
and
The crowd were getting onto the referee over the alleged
time-wasting Spurs were employing and they should really have looked
at their side over the last few meetings, when they tried to kill
games. But then if you listened to them, Spurs would never have had
a free-kick all match.
It got to the stage of the
game where lots of substitutions were made and Son came on to make
his farewell (and 100th Premier League) appearance before going off
to the Asian Games. As the game moved into the final 10 minutes,
Lloris got a good punch to a Newcastle corner that reached the
halfway line, but Newcastle could have profited from an Atkinson
mistake, when Dier was pulled back by Perez on halfway before Atsu
broke away but failed to find Rondon with his pass, with the
Venezuelan running the wrong way. Rondon did come close to
equalising when he hit the bar after Shelvey had played him in on
the edge of the area. His shot was going to Lloris’ right, but Jan
got a diving block on the ball that took it into the ground and up
onto the bar and it was headed away by Sanchez.
Fernando Llorente had been
warming up, but with Dier and Vertonghen going down with cramp, Luke
Amos, who had an impressive pre-season, was readied and came on for
the England midfielder. With three subs used and four minutes injury
time on the fourth official’s watch, Yedlin went down near the Spurs
dead ball line and had to limp off after landing badly and
stretching his knee. Newcastle started to try and strong-arm
things after going down to ten men, with Lascelles trying to
intimidate Son and Diame booked for stamping in Kane’s foot, but
Spurs saw out the game without Newcastle getting close to the
Tottenham goal. “When The Spurs Go Marching In” rang out as the home
ranks emptied quicker than a Mike Ashley bid for a failing business
with three points in the bag and a place sitting proudly at the top
of the Premier League.
It was a solid performance
without being completely dominant, but early in the season, without
the first choice eleven selected, three points was very welcome. It
was never going to be easy, as Newcastle wanted to set their stall
out in their first game, but like last season, they failed to stop
all of our players all of the time. The two Spurs goals came from
first choice players, but those filling in were good value and
played their part in the victory. The three points will quell
unrest of the lack of signings, but with a few games to come before
we return to White Hart Lane, it was important to get this sequence
of away games off to a good start.
The Heathrow
Spur
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