A Newcastle side that had been torn apart by injury gave everything they had, and you could see that by that the way the players looked dead on their feet as the full-time whistle blew.
The form book will show that we have taken two points from the last two games against Sunderland and Tottenham, and to be honest I would have settled for that before the two games had been played. Being realistic though, we should have had all six on offer, which is a positive that can be took from both games. It wasn’t us who has had to scrape a draw at the death.
The match started pretty quietly to be honest as both sides struggled to create any goalscoring chances. In fact the first real chance of the match came on 30 minutes when Jose Enrique crossed into the box for Leon Best who managed to get an outstretched foot to the ball and direct it towards goal only to be denied by the crossbar.
Tottenham controlled the ball well at times though, and it nearly paid off on the stroke of half time when Jermaine Defoe was put clean through on goal only to be denied by a smart save from Steve Harper.
The second half started with a bit more pace than the first and Newcastle looked to be pressing the game a bit more. Leon Best headed wide from the near post position, although to be fair it was a difficult header that he should have perhaps left for Shola Ameobi who was behind him in the box.
Newcastle took the lead on the hour mark through Fabricio Coloccini. The Argentine defender, who celebrates his 29th birthday today, chested a Danny Guthrie cross past the Tottenham defender and volleyed past Carlo Cudicini from the inside-left position. Not the kind of goal you would expect from a defender.
Tottenham had to start chasing the game, but with Newcastle defending dilligently it allowed the home side to exploit the gaps that were being left by the Tottenham defence. This led to a barrage of chances for the home side, which were all unfortunately missed.
Shola Amoebi had a couple of chances, Peter Lovenkrands should have scored, Nile Ranger should have scored and Joey Barton scuffed a shot over the bar from ten yards out. I said at the time that it would cost us, and unfortunately it did.
As the fourth official raised his board to signal that four minutes of injury time was to be played, Carlo Cudicini pumped the ball forward from the Tottenham penalty area. That long punt found Jermain Defoe who flicked the ball on for Aaron Lennon who danced across the Newcastle defence and slotted the ball into the corner of Steve Harper’s goal from 12 yards out.
Rafael van der Vaart had been critical of Newcastle in the build up to the match as he stated that we play long ball football. I wonder if he is being critical of his sides equaliser, as that was about as direct as you can get. The defence could have dealt with it better, and perhaps Steve Harper should have been a bit closer to his near-side post, and perhaps Danny Simpson should have shown Lennon out wide rather than inviting him to come inside, but in the main it is hard to be critical of the team today.
Much as it pains me, Tottenham are a good side, and Newcastle gave everything they had. It’s all we can ever ask for really, and it is something that we wouldn’t have seen in our relegation season for sure.
The draw leaves us sitting in seventh place in the Premier League with 30 points from 23 games, but we really should have had 34 points at this juncture, and that sticks in the throat. I hate injury time!
Howay the lads!
Newcastle: Steve Harper, Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton, Danny Guthrie, Kevin Nolan, Jonas Gutierrez, Shola Ameobi, Leon Best.
Subs: Tim Krul, Sol Campbell, James Perch, Shane Ferguson, Peter Lovenkrands, Xisco, Nile Ranger.
Tottenham: Carlo Cudicini, Alan Hutton, Michael Dawson, William Gallas, Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric, Jermaine Jenas, Steven Pienaar, Rafael van der Vaaart, Jermain Defoe.
Subs: Stipe Pletikosa, Vedran Corluka, Younes Kaboul, Sebastien Bassong, Niko Kranjcar, Sandro, Peter Crouch.
Attendance: 51,010.
Referee: Mark Halsey.
Ross
I would LOVE Dempsey, but I can’t see Fulham letting him go on the cheap, especially mid-season. Around 7-9million it would cost me thinks. Can’t see it.
El Toro(Quote)
Pardew would have DEFO got manager of the month if we had held on against Sunderland and Spurs. Just a thought.
El Toro(Quote)
I am sure you’re all tucked into your wee beds at the moment, but having just watched the game from recording, I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed and confident with this team. They’re missing a few key starters, and still we held a team that is gunning for CL to 1-1 draw. Yes, very disappointing in the injury time goal, but let’s be honest…a point’s better than nowt.
I can only see this team getting better as our key players return from injury and suspension. I see them fighting…and I like it. They won’t always win, but when they put in a solid effort, I’ll accept the draw or loss.
I think next season will be interesting. I really feel like this team will do very well next season. I think for this season survival is achieved, and I am optimistic at a top 10 or 12 finish.
NorCal Toonfan(Quote)
I having some weird problem accessing this webpage.Apparently,it keeps on asking me to download a certain file to access here. 😯
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
Tottenham were a very good side today. The fact that we did so well against them just showed the heart of the players we had. I just wish Ranger had been brought on sooner. He was very lively. Hope he gets his chance to play up front with Carroll when he gets back. Does anyone know how Lua Lua is doing? He was another youngster who always impressed me. I look forward to getting him back from loan.
Jill(Quote)
AOD – What file? It shouldn’t so? Unless it’s an update for your computer or browser or something??
toonsy(Quote)