A smart goal from Demba Ba and a penalty earned and scored by Hatem Ben Arfa sandwiched either side of a Jermaine Defoe effort was enough to send the Lillywhites back to North London with nothing to show from Andre Villas-Boas’ first league game in charge.
However the afternoon was kind of spoilt by Alan Pardew, who pushed the linesman after he failed to see the ball run out of play which lead to a goalscoring opportunity for Tottenham. As a result Pardew was sent to the stands where watched the winning goal, which is something he may have to get used to temporarily depending on whether or not the FA decide to take further action.
In truth the first half was pretty poor and Newcastle struggled to get a foothold in the game as the visitors struck the woodwork twice through Jermaine Defoe and Gareth Bale. The best Newcastle could muster was an effort from Demba Ba which was deflected closer towards goal by Papiss Cisse although the effort trickled just wide of the post.
However things were changed at half time and we reverted to more of the 4-3-3 system that served us so well last season, with Demba Ba assuming his semi-regular role on the left of an attacking trio. And it was Ba, in that semi-regular role, that gave us the lead after he chased down a Danny Simpson cross which was tamely headed clear by Kyle Walker, turned towards goal and fired a crisp shot into the far corner of the Gallowgate net.
From then on it looked as though United would take control of the match but as is often the case in football Tottenham managed to find an equaliser through Jermaine Defoe who found himself in the right place to react quickest after his original effort deflected off Davide Santon forcing a fine save from Tim Krul who tipped the effort onto the post only for the Tottenham striker to squeeze the ball home.
However just four minutes later and Newcastle were back in front thanks to a penalty earned and scored by Hatem Ben Arfa. The talismanic Frenchman ran into the Tottenham penalty box and was felled by two Tottenham defenders. He stepped up after “deliberating” with Demba Ba, presumably over who had the right to take the spotkick, and sent Brad Friedel the wrong and send St James’ Park into raptures.
All in all neither team were great, but I’m not concerned about Tottenham. What matters most was getting the three points and we done that without playing to our best which has to be a good thing. Hatem Ben Arfa carried on his good form and Demba Ba looked good while debutant Vurnon Anita showed that he has an eye for a pass and a turn of pace. He could turn out to be an excellent signing for us.
Howay the lads!
Newcastle: Tim Krul, Danny Simpson, James Perch, Steven Taylor, Davide Santon, Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Jonas Gutierrez, Hatem Ben Arfa, Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse
Subs: Steve Harper, Mike Williamson, Dan Gosling, Ryan Taylor, Romain Amalfitano, Vurnon Anita, Gabriel Obertan
Tottenham: Brad Friedel, Kyle Walker, Younes Kaboul, William Gallas, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jake Livermore, Sandro, Jermaine Defoe
Subs: Carlo Cudicini, Jan Vertonghen, Kyle Naughton, Jermaine Jenas, Andros Townsend, Rafael van der Vaart, Harry Kane
Attendance: 52,385
Big Dave, apologies if your ‘massive’ club has never had a player on loan? Why pay over the odds for a player when you can have him for nothing and his club pays most of his wages? Good business I say…..not as good as the number Kieron Dyer done on you boys though….very impressive. We are reportedly getting Adebayor for £5m this week……terrible business again eh?
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
When I say massive I speak of all the trophies you’ve won and did you know the new Wembley no longer has the twin towers?
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
Milky Bar Yid I’ll personally remind you of this post when you DON’T get Adebayor for £5 this week. 😆 😆 😆
Keep the faith mate, and good luck for the new season.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Milky Bar Yid
Now you’re turning into a WUM….be careful man…. 😳 😳
Munich Mag(Quote)
Dave
Of course, they really are ******. 😆
andymag(Quote)
MBY
Oh, cus Spurs are sooo well endowed with recent trophies. We won a trophy a month ago but we’re not bragging about it 😆
andymag(Quote)
MBY what number was that that Dyer done on us,
Incase you havn’t noticed no one is talking about trophies etc we’re talking about you’s not finishing as high this yr but you still think you’s will finish above us, even though you’s won’t have Modric because you’s arn’t big enough or you’s don’t have a big club City helping you’s out 😳
Even the government and olympics committee didn’t want to help you’s when you were begging for a new stadium, and decided that they would help the hammers out instead maybe they can make better use of it.
Big Dave(Quote)
Also really glad our pen came from a corner, we need to do short ones a bit more often, particularly when Cabaye isn’t on the pitch as nobody else can really take good ones…but the short ones with Benny running right at the defence could cause any teams problems, finally something to do from set pieces… 😉
Newkie(Quote)
MM they all turn in to wum’s when they know they’ve lost the debate 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
MBY-I tend to agree with you that we probably won’t do as well as last season as currently we’ve lost some important players and only really bought one first teamer. Equally don’t think you will do as well as last year, we’ll both probably be fighting for 6/7th. I can understand why you thought you deserved a point, bur given that your goal was offside anyway I’d say we deserved the win. Close though 😉
Newkie(Quote)
HWTL!
11 games undefeated again is what i expect 😛
DanishToon(Quote)
Newkie, at last someone who has read and understood my posts. I never came on to have a dig but to make a point that beating Spurs, the current Spurs, should not get you all too excited as we are a shadow of the side that beat you 5-0 in february. I have no problem with Newcastle, like the place and have always enjoyed my weekends there and you always play the game in the right manner IMO. Good luck for the season but we will finish above you
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
Whereas Big Dave is clearly a man of limited knowledge and intelligence as he has continually spouted boring nonsense all day. We are building our own stadium and if you knew the facts Tottenham bid for the Olympic stadium to put pressure on the local council in Tottenham to help the club with their redevelopment plan….which worked. And I take it as a compliment when the biggest clubs on the planet are interested in our players…….funny none have made bids for any of Newcastle’s stars?
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
MBY;
If you go through previous threads I stated that I expect Newcastle to finish top 4 this season. You will have to go some to be ahead of us in May.
Good luck with the new stadium. The cost will put a huge strain on your financial resources and big name signings will be a thing of the past.
We’ve been there!!!
Ashley has got our star players on long contracts. However , we are still expecting bids for Tiote and Cabaye . Tiote has 5 years left on his contract and Cabaye 4 years. This means that Ashley can (and will) demand offers in excess of £20m for each player.
Should either, or indeed both, get sold, then we have already brought in replacements who you probably have never heard of. They are Romain Alfatino, Mehdi Abeid and Gael Bigirimana. All three bought for a total cost of £1m. All future stars and all very capable of playing in the EPL today.
With Spurs building a new stadium and having little money available for new players as a result, then you are going to have to follow our transfer policy of buying cheap up and coming players that can be sold on for a huge profit, while at the same time paying a bit more for more proven players , like Cisse
Still think you will be scrapping with us for most of the season and I’ll let you have fifth place, behind us but ahead of Arsenal..
sidekick(Quote)
MBY,
First off, you have every right to say you’ll be above us, as we do also have the right to say you’ll be below us.
Secondly, Spurs had been in ‘shadow’ ever since the 5-0 win. Spurs been in a free fall since February, only saved by their early season form. I don’t have the fact but I think ‘collapse’ is the right word after being overtaken by the mighty Arsenal. Furthermore, the past is history. How do you compare that team with the ones beaten 2-4 by Arsenal, similar team no? Or is that the shadow of the 5-0 against us too. Since we all talking about the past, our team now is only a shadow of the team that beat you 8-0 quite a few years back.
This is a compliment mind you, but with Parker, Sandro, Van De Vaart, Livermore, Glyfi, Huddlestone and Jenas, there is no such thing as shadow.
Well, tactic dictates that if you have 5 man midfield, you might control the middle but attacking wise, you have to rely on the form on the single striker, which Dafoe probably is not suitable. So, in simple terms, our three forward although seldom have a look at the ball, are more efficient than your 5 in-midfield. Possesion and controlling the game would not guarantee a 3 point, otherwise Swansea would be the last year’s champion. Just ask Bayern Munich.
You can say bigger teams interested in your players, on the flip side, your players put money over loyalty, bar King and maybe Bale (see Berbatov, Modric, Sol Campbell, Keane). So far, touch wood, no player currently decided to skip pre-season over interest from other teams. Of course, for every Shearer there is a Caroll.
Don’t start the Dyer arguments with us, MBY. What about Rebrov? Oh, a certain Jermain ‘Goldfish’ Jenas, earning an England’s player salary for sitting on a spurs bench.
Finally, Ade may come cheap. Transfer fee wise, it is approximately half of Cisse but salary wise, it is a combination of Ba, Cisse and HBA.
Zammy(Quote)
sorry about the 8-0, wrong team but argument stands. Past is history, last season is past, thus last season is history.
Zammy(Quote)