| Match report
It looked like the only winners
in what was a shocking game for the first half hour would be the
stay-away Newcastle fans, but Tottenham overcame a seriously poor
Toon team to end up winning 3-1, which hopefully sets them up for a
good run-in to the end of the season.
It wasn't a great
performance by Spurs today, but then it didn't need to be. The
home Toon team were dire. The fact that Spurs added a fifth
defeat in succession was as much down to the fact that Newcastle
could not find someone on the end of their passes, failed to make
the most of the decent positions they got into and generally looked
like a side who think 35 points is enough to stay up. Not
having a ground full of barcodes roaring them on no doubt made it
all feel slightly surreal, as the majority of the match was
dominated by the singing of Tottenham fans way up in the gods.
But that should not detract from the fact that Spurs dominated the
game, with a huge amount of possession and the big questions that
must be asked after the match was how we let Newcastle repeat their
trick of equalising seconds after the interval and how Tottenham
failed to score more against a team that was there for the taking.
The sun shone down on a
half-filled St. James Park, but that didn't warm things up much.
The stadium must be quite deceptive, as the official figure for the
attendance was 47,427, so the real capacity must be approaching
89,000 when the other half of the crowd return from their boycott.
Spurs wore their yellow away strip and kicked off attacking the
Gallowgate end. Eric Dier filled the right back position, with
Fazio coming in alongside the returning Jan Vertonghen, with
Paulinho replacing Mason and Lamela in for Townsend.
Within the second minute,
Spurs were on the attack, when Paulinho played a neat straight
lifted pass into the left hand side of the penalty area for Kane.
Harry took it well, but didn't get the chance to shoot, as Collocini
was quickly onto him and nicked the ball away for a corner.
Both sides' moves were characterised by poor final passes or
crosses, which were either to nobody in particular or were cleared
easily. In the fourteenth minute, Gouffran made the most of
Rose being caught upfield when possession was won and his low ball
into the six yard box from the right was met at the near post by
Perez, who couldn't get too much power on it, but forced Vorm to a
low save at the foot of his post.
Both sides were restricted
to shots from long range, with Bentaleb firing well wide and Janmaat
hitting a weak effort straight at Vorm, before Spurs got a free-kick
30 yards out to the right. Eriksen lined up the ball and when
it looked like he would cross the ball, he played it in low to the
near post, but no yellow shirt had read his intentions and it rolled
through to Krul. Meanwhile, Paulinho was looking like the
player we paid all that money for two years ago. One minute
stopping a Newcastle attack on the edge of our box, then being
involved as Spurs broke forward, laying a volleyed side-foot pass
into the box for Lamela, which was juts a foot too far ahead of him.
His work ethic was good today and it looked like Pochettino's
decision to pick him ahead of Mason was justified, especially after
his poor performance agianst Burnley might have made it easier to
leave the Brazilian out.
Danny Rose did well to
prevent Colback getting a cross in from their right wing, but having
done the hard bit, he then pushed the midfielder over to concede a
needless free-kick. Rose has developed into a very good
defender, but still has moments of brainlessness, where he will dive
in or foul without any pressure on him to do so, which puts us in
danger. This time the free-kick was flighted over by Ryan
Taylor and Williamson got a free header at it, but put it over the
bar. That was one of United's crosses that found it's target,
as most sailed out for goal-kicks after flying over the head of
Perez in the box.
Spurs were not playing at a
high tempo, but were happy to keep the ball, although that wasn't
happening in the first third of the match, but Paulinho won the ball
near halfway, played it to Chadli, who moved centrally from the left
and then cut back onto his left foot, seeing a shooting opportunity,
with no Magpies player closing him down. His left foot shot
from 25 yards out went between two defenders and bounced just before
Krul's dive, beating his right hand and going a foot inside the post
to give Spurs the lead. Sporting what must be one of the
smallest top-knots in history, Chadli must have felt the wind in his
hair to let fly and rack up his 11th goal of the season.
Spurs were grateful to
Vertonghen when he produced a fine block as Cabella ran onto a ball
outside the penalty area a little while after the goal, then a bit
of head tennis around the Spurs area was cleared by Fazio.
Vorm took a Perez shot from 20 yards above his head and in quick
succession, Vertonghen intercepted a pass through intended for
Perez, while Fazio stopped Colback's move into the box.
Harry Kane had been holding
the ball up well and using it well, but he only had his first sniff
of goal a couple of minutes before half time, when he drilled a shot
from a tight angle on the left of the goal. Krul stood up to
it and beat it away at his near post, but there was uproar amongst
the Newcastle players when Lamela brought down Anita in the
defender's own corner of the pitch, as he tried to pass the ball
back to Krul. It was a foul and a booking, but their reaction
was out as proportion to the offence, especially when Obertan went
through Rose with his trailing leg in the second half in a much
worse tackle.
Anyway, half-time saw few
queues in the home bars for refreshments and the manager tried to
refresh the side with two changes. The anonymous Abedi was
replaced by Obertan and Gouffran was taken off with Shola Ameobi
taking his place. From the kick off, Spurs got possession and
then Chadli lost it trying to trick his way past Janmaat, but the
ball was played to Perez, who ran into the box on the right hand
side. He wasn't challenged that well and the ball was pulled
back for Janmaat, whose shot was blocked by Dier, but fell to
Colback, who fired home from six yards out. It was sloppy
stuff from Tottenham and there were two other players waiting to
finish if Colback hadn't got there. It seemed they hadn't
learned much form the game at White Hart Lane, as this goal after
the break was even quicker.
The joy of those Newcastle
fans in the ground didn't last too long. Eriksen was fouled by
Colback about seven minutes later and while Friend failed to see it
as worthy of a second yellow card, a free-kick from 30 yards to the
left of centre was awarded. It was curled in by Eriksen, with
Bentaleb being the leading Spurs player going for it, as Newcastle
tried to hold a line on the edge of their box, but the ball missed
everyone and Krul was banking on someone getting a touch, so his
late dive was in vain as the ball nestle din the far corner of the
net to regain Tottenham's lead with 52 minutes on the clock.
It should have been 3-1 a
minute later, with Chadli crossing onto Bentlabe's head, but he
failed to get above it and the ball skimmed the top of the net after
it had gone over. A downward header might have beaten Krul
from eight yards out. Only Krul's reflexes stopped the lead
being extended, with a corner from Paulinho being met full on the
volley by Kane from six yards out, but the keeper got something on
it and Anita blocked it on the line to prevent the Spurs striker
adding to his impressive tally this season. Harry was then put
in by Bentlaeb, who scooped the ball over the Newcastle back line,
but as he was going wide, he tried to play the ball back across
goal, but slipped and the ball skewed off his foot for a goal kick.
Then Bentaleb put Lamela through on Krul and as he shaped to go
round him, he tried to slide the ball the other side of the
Dutchman, but he got a bit on it and grabbed the loose ball.
Newcastle brought on
Armstrong for Anita - forward for a defender - with Janmaat playing
Colback in inside the area, but he could not take the ball under
control and his second touch was a weak prod at goal, unlike Kane at
the other end, who created space for a shot and hit a low effort
that the keeper had to dive to stop. United pushed up trying
to find an equaliser, but Janmaat fired a shot high and wide of the
Spurs goal from outside the area, then Tottenham put the home goal
under pressure, with Fazio's header denied by a goal-line block from
Colback when the Argentine had got to a corner ahead of Krul with
Kane forcing Williamson to a block to prevent his shot reaching goal
soon after.
Janmaat seemed determined to
score from 25 yards, but once more his effort flew into the sparsely
populated seat behind the Gallowgate goal. A cross in from the
United left in added time popped up, with Fazio heading it to the
edge of the box and Mason winning the next header that fell to
Lamela. He broke from the edge of the Spurs box and with Mason
continuing his run to the right and Kane to his left, on halfway, he
releases the ball to Kane, who was through on goal. Getting to
the box, Mason was free to his right, with Obertan the closest black
and white shirt, but still behind the Spurs forward, who chose to
shot past the keeper to the left as Krul went right and Kane's 30th
goal rippled the net as he ran to the part of the pitch about a mile
below where the Spurs fans were located. It was a cool piece
of finishing and good to see that despite the recent lack of
service, he still knows where the goal is. Becoming the first
player since Gary Lineker to bag 30 in a season will hopefully
spur Kane on to greater things in the future (with Spurs, I hasten
to add).
This was the style on the
break that Spurs had been missing for a few matches. And while
they weren't quite back to the level they were playing at earlier
this season, it was enough to take the three points and a win will
help going into the next two games against Southampton and
Manchester City. These games will be much more difficult and
everyone needs to be on their game.
By the time Spurs went 3-1
ahead, there were few home fans left and those that were soon headed
for the exit signs, with boos ringing around the ground. Their
mood is not being lightened, with little light at the end of the
Tyne tunnel. Mike Ashley seems more interested in Glasgow
Rangers and with money in the bank, but little investment in the
team, occupying that hinterland between European qualification and
avoiding relegation is the imminent future for Newcastle United.
For Tottenham, a good run to
the end of the season is all that is left to aim for. Apart
from Stoke and Everton, the other games are against teams with
something still to play for.
It remains to be seen if
Tottenham have the desire to play for the points left in our
remaining five matches.
Marc Spillane |
