Eddie Howe speaks ...
“It was a great performance from us,” says the Newcastle manager in a BBC interview. “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.”
Match report: Newcastle 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League: Alexander Isak scored twice in the face of astonishingly feeble Tottenham resistance, as Newcastle ran riot to go sixth in the table. Louise Taylor reports from St James’ Park …
James Maddison: “It was just a really bad day,” the Tottenham midfielder tells TNT Sports. “We conceded the first goal and when you concede a second so quickly at a place like this … From the kick-off we sloppily went back to the keeper knowing they’re going to press and you find yourself 2-0 down and give yourself a mountain to climb.
“I felt at 0-0 out there there were some chances for us, spaces to play. We just weren’t brave enough, I think, with the ball - too many safe passes, too many safe options, not enough courage to try and play a riskier pass. It was all a bit safe which I think cost us at 0-0. When you concede two so quickly … well, it’s sloppy little details that cost us.”
Anthony Gordon: “We knew we couldn’t play our normal way against this team because they are so good with the ball,” the Newcastle winger tells TNT Sports. “So we changed tactically, went man for man and the game plan that the manager set us up with was outstanding.”
Ange Postecoglous speaks ...
“It’s a tough one, a bit raw at the moment,” says the Tottenham manager in an interview with the BBC. “Credit to Newcastle, I thought they were really good today. We never really got to grips with the game and weren’t able to execute any of the stuff we usually do.”
On Newcastle’s quick-fire opening two goals: “I thought even before that we lacked a little bit of conviction today in a lot of things. They can hurt you particularly in transition and they did that today.”
On Tottenham’s need to put this result behind them: “You’ve got no choice,” he says. “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.”
Newcastle’s players take the plaudits. And they’re well deserved. It was an excellent performance from Eddie Howe’s depleted side, who go above Manchester United and West Ham into sixth place. Tottenham stay in fifth place, level on points with Aston Villa but one goal worse off after 32 games each.
Full time: Newcastle 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeeeep! It’s all over at St James’ Park, where Newcastle have run out thoroughly deserving winners on the back of an excellent performance in the face of surprisingly feeble opposition. It’s a big setback for Spurs, who will need to quickly purge this dreadful performance from the collective system ahead of several stern tests.
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90+2 min: Newcastle double-substitution: Paul Dummett and Joe White come on for Bruno Guimaraes and Fabian Schar. Barring a dust-up on the touchline or in the tunnel, Guimaraes is now free to get booked with impunity for the rest of the season, so a tip of the hat to him. A tip of the hat to Schar, too. He has been outstanding for Newcastle today.
90 min: It will be interesting to hear what Ange Postecoglou has to say in his post-match interview. Expect to see minimal eye contact with his interrogator as he tries to unpick the horror of what he has seen unfold over the past 90 minutes. Tottenham have been shocking today.
GOAL! Newcastle 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Schar 88)
Newcastle make it four! Anthony Gordon sends the ball towards the far post, where a completely unmarked Fabian Schar rises to steer a header back across the face of goal and into the back of the net. Oh Spurs.
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85 min: Sean Longstaff wins a free-kick deep in Newcastle territory and his side advance upfield. Harvey Barnes cuts inside Van de Ven and rolls the ball into the path of Gordon, who should have hit it first time. He dilly-dallies instead and Newcastle have a corner. From which they score!
82 min: Spurs continue huffing and puffing to little effect but win a corner when an Emerson Royal cross is put out of play by Elliot Anderson. It’s been a very easy day at the office for Newcastle’s players, due in no small part to some atrocious defending on the part of their visitors.
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82 min: Spurs substitution: Giovani Lo Celso comes on for James Maddison.
80 min: Newcastle corner. Gordon’s delivery is cleared by Emerson Royal, but only as far as Krafth. His dipping shot hits the foot of the far upright.
80 min: Newcastle substitution: Tino Livramento is on for Jacob Murphy, who seems to have picked up a knock.
77 min: Next up for Spurs? Arsenal (h), Chelsea (a), Liverpool (a). In the unlikely event they play as badly as they have today, they will get absolutely battered in all three of those games. Well, two of them. They also have to face Manchester City in a month’s time.
75 min: Timo Werner pulls the ball back to Hojbjerg near the edge of the Newcastle penalty area. The midfielder’s shot is blocked.
74 min: Emile Krafth puts the ball out of play with a well-timed tackle to prevent Timo Werner running on to a through ball from Maddison. Good defending.
72 min: Romero and Isak go to ground after a coming-together and there’s a short break in play as they untangle themselves. Free-kick for Newcastle, wide on the left. The ball’s sent towards Schar but headed away by his near namesake Sarr.
70 min: Maddison drills a cross-shot through the Newcastle penalty area and the ball ends up at the feet of Kulusevski. His shot is blocked by Dan Burn.
68 min: It’s heart-in-mouth time for Spurs fans as Vicario, with the ball at his feet, comes under pressure from Harvey Barnes. The goalkeeper neatly sidesteps the Newcastle winger and sends the ball towards the touchline.
65 min: Now Spurs have a corner. Maddison takes it short and Newcastle clear with a minimum of fuss. Tottenham substitution I missed eight minutes ago: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg on for Yves Bissouma.
64 min: Newcastle win their 14th corner, many of which Tottenham have defended abysmally. They’re looked really uncomfortable under crosses. Van de Ven clears the latest inswinger from Anthony Gordon, who has been superb for Newcastle today.
62 min: James Maddison is booked for a high boot on Jacob Murphy. It was quite a dangerous, forceful challenge and the Spurs No10 is perhaps lucky to avoid a red card.
60 min: We pass the hour mark, with Newcastle three goals to the good. Sheepish confession: I thought Tottenham would batter Eddie Howe’s side today but Newcastle keep defying my low expectations in the face of their injury crisis.
57 min: Tottenham double-substitution: Pape Sarr and Dejan Kulusevski replace Rodrigo Bentancur and Heung-min Son. Brennan Johnson moves into the middle of Tottenham’s front three, with Kulusevski taking his place on the right.
56 min: Gordon curls a free-kick from the left across the Newcastle penalty area but Isak is not quite able to glance it goalwards.
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54 min: Newcastle have a penalty appeal for handball correctly turned down and have to settle for a corner. Gordon sends the ball towards the near post, where it’s cleared by Destiny Odogie.
GOAL! Newcastle 3-0 Tottenham (Isak 52)
Newcastle score a third! Given the freedom of the park by – that man again – Micky van de Ven, Alexander Isak sprints on to a long ball from deep, bears down on the Newcastle goal from inside his own half and fires the ball past Vicario. It was a brilliantly timed run but what was Van de Ven doing? His head is in the tumble-dryer.
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51 min: Timo Werner cuts in from the left and unleashes a ashot. It’s straight at Dubravka, who is unable to hold on to the ball but grabs it at the second attempt.
50 min: Tottenham substitution: Emerson Royal is on for Pedro Porro, who seems to have picked up an injury. Nothing comes of the Newcastle corner.
48 min: Newcastle send the free-kick into the box. It’s flicked towards Isak by Fabian Schar and the Swedish striker wins a corner for his side. It’s very poor defending by Tottenham.
46 min: Yves Bissouma sees yel;low for an ill-judged lunge on Sean Longstaff. It seems a harsh booking but his name is taken.
Second half: Newcastle 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
46 min: Play resumes with no changes on either side and reports from TNT that some raised voices could be heard from the Tottenham dressing-room during the break. “They need to cut out the individual errors and close down Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak,” says Peter Crouch., who is on duty as a pundit.
Micky van de Ven: Caught in one-on-ones on two occasions, replays show Tottenham’s central defender was sat on his backside by Isak and Gordon as they cut inside him and he was running too fast to change direction withoutlosing his balance. If anything, Clive, he’s running too quickly …
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Half-time: Newcastle 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Peep! Referee Tim Robinson signals the break and the players troop off. Newcastle lead courtesy of goals scored by Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon in the space of 90 seconds, both featuring comically slapstick cameos from Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven. Spurs’ chances have been limited and Timo Werner has missed the two most presentable ones.
45 min: Martin Dubravka saves comfortably from a Maddison tester as we approach half-time.
42 min: Dan Burn catches Rodrigo Bentancur with a high boot in the Newcastle penalty area but Spurs don’t get a spot-kick despite their appeals and video assistant ref Stuart Attwell having another look at the incident.
39 min: Newcastle’s opener was a strange goal. Anthony Gordon did very well to hold off Destiny Udogie before playing a lovely pass from the right inside to Isak. With Van de Ven between him and Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, the defender appeared to just trip over his own feet, allowing the Swede to pick his spot and fire home.
Much the same thing happened as Gordon scored Newcastle’s secvond goal, prompting TNT Sports co-commentator Ally McCoist to speculate that the Dutch speed merchant must be wearing rollerblades instead of football boots.
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37 min: Spurs are on the ropes and Van de Ven is in the thick of the action again. He slides in to deny Alexander Isak after the striker had been played through on goal by Harvey Barnes.
35 min: A penny for the thoughts of Tottenham’s Dutch centre-half, an excellent young player who is having an absolute shocker. On this occasion he manages to stay on his feet and dispossess Alexander Isak as the Newcastle striker bears down on the Tottenham goal after Cristian Romero had been caught out of position.
GOAL! Newcastle 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Gordon 32)
Newcastle double their lead! I’m not sure if he’s got his boots on the wrong feet but for the second time in two minutes, Micky van de Ven falls over in front of his own goal on the edge of the six-yard box. It leaves space for Anthony Gordon to curl a shot past Vicario. This is baffling.
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GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Tottenham (Isak 31)
Newcastle lead! Alexander Isak opens the scoring for Newcastle, taking advantage of a Micky van de Ven slip to spank the ball past Vicario into the bottom left-hand corner from about 14 yards out.
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29 min: Son pounces on a bouncing through-ball into the Newcastle penalty area but is unable to hook it past Dubravka from close range.
28 min: Nothing comes of the free-kick and Spurs clear their lines after winning one of their own.
26 min: Anthony Gordon is brought down by the combined illegal forces of Timo Werner and Micky van de Ven. Finally, the yellow card comes out and is brandished in the face of Tottenham’s Dutch central defender. Free-kick for Newcastle, wide on the right.
24 min: On the subject of yellow cards, today mark’s Bruno Guimaraes’ 10th Premier League game on the disciplinary tightrope. If the Newcastle midfielder can get through this match without being cautioned, he no longer runs the risk of having to serve a two-match ban next time he’s shown a yellow.
22 min: Burn fouls Maddison in the centre-circle to put a stop to a Tottenham counter-attack and he too is fortunate to escape a yellow card. Maddison is incensed!
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19 min: Spurs enjoy a period of possession, passing the ball around at the back as they probe for an opening. Anthony Gordon wins the ball back for Newcastle and wins a free-kick after being bodychecked by Maddison. The Tottenham No10 pleads his innocence but probably should have been booked for a quite deliberate foul to stop the counter-attack.
17 min: Harvey Barnes has a shot blocked at close range by Romero in the Spurs penalty area and the visitors break upfield down the left. James Maddison pulls the ball back to Timo Werner from the byline but the Tottenham winger is unable to get a shot on target from the edge of the six-yard box. It’s a difficult chance but he really needs to do better.
14 min: Elliot Anderson intercepts a low Bentancur cross across the face of the Newcastle penalty area and moments later his side win a corner off Cristian Romero. Not the most convincing at corners, Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario comes off his line to claim the ball when it’s curled his way.
12 min: Harvey Barnes leaps to get on the end of a Newcastle corner but can only skim the ball wide of the upright.
10 min: Destiny Udogie is forced to intervene a couple of yards from his own line as the ball breaks towards Bruno Guimaraes at a corner. It’s been a very lively start in a goal where plenty of goals are expected.
9 min: Anthony Gordon curls a cross into the Spurs penalty area but Harvey Barnes miscontrols the bouncing ball and a decent chance goes begging for Newcastle.
8 min: Brennan Johnson sprints down the right flank and sends in a cross on the half-volley. He finds Timo Werner at the far post and the German stretches to volley high over the bar when the delivery was pleading to be headed past Martin Dubravka. It’s a terrible finish.
6 min: Tottenham win a corner. Porro takes it short to Maddison, who tries to pick out Timo Werner with a cross. Newcastle clear and win a free-kick for an Yves Bissouma foul on Harvey Barnes.
5 min: Newcastle have lined up with a back three, while Spurs appear to have stationed Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner in touchline-hugging wide roles. Elliot Anderson and Jacob Murphy are the Newcastle wing-backs.
4 min: Newcastle win a corner, which Gordon takes. His delivery is cleared at the near post by Pedro Porro.
3 min: Early pressure from Newcastle, as Pedro Porro sends Anthony Gordon on his way down the right flank. The winger pulls the ball acrossd the Spurs penalty area but is unable to pick out a teammate.
2 min: Actually, more beige than mauve. Son is the subject of a meaty challenge from Fabian Schar, who is probably lucky to escape an early booking.
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur is go ...
1 min: Tottenham get the ball rolling, their players a vision in – I’m going to say – mauve. Both sets opf players are wearing black armbands as a tribute to the late Joe Kinnear.
Not long now: Referee Tim Robinson and his team of match officials lead both sets of players on to the St James’ Park pitch. The home side’s mascots are young members of the local deaf community, who got to meet Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier during the week and teach the two Newcastle players some sign language. Newcastle’s match shirts today boast the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) logo.
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Joe Kinnear: Before today’s game, representatives from both teams laid wreaths in the concourse of St James’ Park as a tribute to Joe Kinnear, who passed away last week.
Joelinton: Currently injured, Newcastle’s non-scoring striker turned midfielder has just signed a four-year transfer extension. A £40m laughing stock who was on the verge of an ignominious exit from the club three years ago, the Brazilian had his career transformed by Eddie Howe, who turned him into an excellent midfielder.
“Eddie Howe’s a great man,” said Joelinton in an interview with the club website. “I love him as a person and a coach. Since day one, he helped me a lot. He gave me the confidence to play and believe in myself. When I step on the pitch, I want to give back to him.
“I feel great. I feel very happy and my family is happy. A lot of things have happened in my years here. I’ve learnt a lot and grown a lot, and for me to come here to Newcastle was the best decision of my career.
“I love playing for the club. I love the club, I love the fans. We had a lot of discussions and I always wanted to be here. I’m glad to continue and I hope to have success in the years to come.”
Those teams: WIth Joe Willock out with an achilles injury, Elliot Anderson comes into the Newcastle side. Harvey Barnes is also in, with Lewis Hall dropping to the bench. Jacob Murphy looks likely to play at right-back for Newcastle this afternoon, with Tino Livramento only fit enough to make the bench.
Ange Postecoglou makes one change to the side that beat Nottingham Forest last weekend. Rodrigo Bentancur is in for Pape Sarr.
Newcastle v Tottenham Hotspur line-ups
Newcastle: Dubravka, Jacob Murphy, Krafth, Schar, Burn, Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Anderson, Barnes, Isak, Gordon.
Subs: Dummett, Ritchie, Karius, Hall, Livramento, Gillespie, White, Alex Murphy, Parkinson.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma, Bentancur, Johnson, Maddison, Werner, Son.
Subs: Hojbjerg, Dragusin, Gil Salvatierra, Emerson, Lo Celso, Kulusevski, Sarr, Davies, Austin.
Today’s match officials
Referee: Tim Robinson.
Assistants: Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn.
Fourth official: Oliver Langford.
VAR: Stuart Attwell.
Early team news
Newcastle’s injury woes have been well documented and the list of their lame, halt and suspended is a long one. Sven Botman, Jamaal Lascelles, Lewis Miley, Callum Wilson, Joelinton, Nick Pope, Joe Willock, Sandro Tonali, Tino Livramento and Kieran Trippier are all unavailable, while fringe players Matt Targett and Lewis Hall are due to be assessed ahead of kick-off.
Long-term Tottenham absentees Ryan Sessegnon and Manor Solomon remain out, while Richarlison is also sidelined with a knee injury. Reserve goalkeeper Fraser Forster is also out.
Premier League: Newcastle v Tottenham Hotspur
With the likelihood of fifth place in the Premier League being enough to guarantee a place in next season’s Champions League diminishing, fourth-placed Tottenham travel to St James’ Park hoping to put some distance between themselves and Aston Villa, with whom they are currently level on points having played one game fewer.
Spurs ran out comfrotable winners against Nottingham Forest last time out, while injury-plagued Newcastle were somewhat fortuitous winners at Fulham. A win for Eddie Howe’s side in today’s lunchtime kick-off will send them sixth in the table, above Manchester United, having played one game more. Kick-off at St James Park is at 12.30pm but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
