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
Ugly match, but three points in the bag..
if we knock the greek on thursday then i will say that we have made an excellent start and standford bridge is there for the takin..
Stupid danish commentators went on and on about newcastle being a poor side and last year was luck, luck, luck.. little did they know!
Thank god Ba is up and going again
DanishToon(Quote)
Aye, not the best of games but a brilliant start to the season for us. Ben Arfa looked different class.
He looked fit and tracked back well.
Jonas got man of the match but I thought Ben Arfa was man of the match to be honest, yet I won’t take nothing away from Jonas who once again worked his socks off and did a great job for us.
Demba Ba’s goal was sublime and will have done his confidence the world of good.
Cisse looked subdued but we can’t expect him to fire on all cylinders in all games can we as that will just be bloody greedy. 😆
All in all, the game could have went either way but we shaded it with a great penalty from Ben Arfa.
I just hope there wasn’t a spat in the dressing room with him and Ba, over him taking it, hopefully not.
Pardew will no doubt get a few games ban but if he does, I think it’s our of order as it was just a rush of blood over a wrong decision and he was punished for it in the game, so it should be left there, yet I doubt it somehow as he isn’t called Alex Ferguson.
wolfie(Quote)
Wolfie:
i think it’s funny you see Benny’s performance that good, because i really thought he was poor as hell going forward and he really made some poor passes during the game..
maybe he always done that, but i really think he couldn’t focus at all yesterday
DanishToon(Quote)
The way some people have gone on I was expecting Pardew to have whipped the baseball bat out and start clubbing the official. Nothing in it man.
Having said that, he raised his hands and no matter how heavy or light the touch was it’s against the rules so he’ll get punished accordingly
toonsy(Quote)
Pards himsel was over egging it like, He nudged him on espn and then by the time hed got to motd hed pushed him over 😆 fecking nails
Nowt in it should have got a warning to cool it. Not sent to the stands daft jobsworth bellends who get given a whistle and think that makes them gods…
CC(Quote)
Great start by the lads, scrappy first half but much improved once the tactical change took place,and Benny shone later on in the game. Ba’s goal was brilliant and so pleased for him too. Also glad he stayed away from the pen 😆 ,credit to Benny well took pen. Much work still to be done and still think we need a CB and forward added to the squad for peace of mind as losing Colo or Saylor long term is not a nice thought,. Perch did well covering ,he just gets on with it works hard but should we lose Saylor and Colo we’d be in real trouble . For me man of the match was Jonas ,works like a trojan and gets loads of free kicks
😀 Anyway nice one lads onwards and upwards. 😀
kimtoon(Quote)
Toonsy @4 😆
Probably 3 match touchline ban. He’s don al he can, shook the 4th officials had walking off, accepted the ref decision straight away and apologised to the linesman. Nowt more to be done. They shouldnt throw the book at him but who knows
Dubtoon(Quote)
Danishtoon.
Ben Arfa caused them no ends of problems. I don’t know what you were watching mate but Ben Arfa was the difference yesterday.
wolfie(Quote)
Danish @ 3. Was at the match and can’t agree with you. BA scared the life out of the Spurs defenders and the only way they could stop him was to foul him. BBC News sports reporter hinted his penalty award was soft. Another BBC Spurs supporter? Having said that had I been a Spurs supporter I might have thought we were unlucky not to get a point.
Groucho(Quote)
MM @270 (last thread) Look what you’ve started 😆
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2012/08/19/man-united-linked-with-bid-for-newcastle-united-pair-as-sir-alex-ferguson-looks-to-continue-spending-spree/?
Only took an hour or so
Dubtoon(Quote)
We were not at our best yesterday and Spurs showed they are going to do as well under AVB as they did under Harry. It was touches of class that won it for us yesterday. Ba sublime and HBA winning a penalty. Great result and the results could not have gone better for us in our race to 4th. Not expecting any favours in the remaining games however.
Premandup(Quote)
I reckon AVB riled Pardew yesterday yesterday, hence Pardew going a bit radged and giving it the old hand-pump action when we scored… Obviously no love lost between them.
Should be banned though, he’s probably embarassed as hell about it … 😆 😆
Danishtoon…it looks like NOBODY in Denmark knows much about footy mate….. 😆 😆 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
on to thursday……does anyone know what side first europa game on thursday is? thanks lads
stevo(Quote)
Best players yesterday…
Jonas, Taylor, Simpson, Tiote, Ba, Ben Arfa…
Perch and Krul did well too…
I think one more signing (Pieters) and Marveaux returning, we have a super squad. Capable of top four if we don’t lose the Dembas for ACN.
Was an ugly win, but that’s just fine…
JJ(Quote)
The thing Benny brings you is implied pressure. Opp teams panic when he is on the ball.. OK he makes his share of bad passes etc but the unknown he brings is golden. Just look at the penalty, the spurs players were at 6’s & 7’s trying to stop him.. 🙂 They had no option but to bring him down… Jonas was BOG for me and he showed why he is a stand up starter each week.. legend!! 🙂 🙂
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
Morning Lads n Lasses.
Thought spuds were well up for it in the first half, but we defended reasonably well enough, with a bit of luck and help from the post and bar.
Typical opening game of the season I was thinking.
But 2nd half we did far better, and over all deserved the win imo.
Couldn’t ask for a better start to the season.
Just got to get Cisse up and running now that ramadan is finished, and we will be fine.
Good to see Stevie Taylor back to full fitness again. He looks big and strong and had a good game. Hope he stays injury free all season for a change.
Ba’s goal was wonderful too.
Happy days 😛 😆
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Tottenham came with a 4/5/1 formation to frustrate us and use Bale and Lennon’s pace against us, so it wasn’t even gonna be a classic.
One thing about us now though is, we can mix and match against any team now, whereas before we would come unstuck.
There’s a lot to be said for doing your home work and Pardew seems to have done a lot of it in the short time he’s been our manager.
We were never a team to go out and win a game the ugly way, yet he’s instilled that into the team to do what’s needed for the result and not simply to just be pleasing on the eye of the fans.
You can only play what’s in front of you and you have to do what’s necessary to get a result, whether that’s eye catching attacking or dogged defending.
It’s horses for courses and that’s what separates the top sides from the bottom. In my opinion like. 😀
wolfie(Quote)
At the end of the day a win is a win , yes we were poor first half but second half was much better . As a few have already said some of our best players Ba cisse tiote hba will have been under par because of ramadan . Anita showed when he came on that when he gets game time we have another class player and colo will be back to lead the defence.From here on we will improve and too start with a win against a team that finished above us last season is fine by me .
Axel(Quote)
espn/itv/channel five on thurs? any idea anyone thanks
stevo(Quote)
I would imagine it’ll be on channel 5.
wolfie(Quote)
Dubtoon@10…that MM knows nowt mate…. 😳
Munich Mag(Quote)
Just watched MOTD, Ba’s goal was class and benny’s back heel prior to the cross was cool. Defoe was definatly offside for the spurs goal and Benny boy looked mint. Was well pissed with the pundits at the end though, talked about spurs for five minutes, Ba’s goal for thirty seconds then moved onto the next game 😡 , not cool especially when the dippers were given near to ten minutes.
andymag(Quote)
cheers wolfie
stevo(Quote)
Pieters does make perfect sense big mates with Krul and Anita, A big lad who can play at centre half and give us a natural left footed option for left back.
Fingers crossed on that, I see the carroll may have finally burnt his merseyside bridges, Cesspool fans are spitting blood after football first zoomed in on him pissing himself laughing after west broms third goal…. 😆
CC(Quote)
We are nowhere near ready in terms of preparation, new system and players so you played us at the right time but if I were a newcastle fan I’d be worried how such an under par Tottenham came and for most of the game bossed it. A draw would have been a fair result but if it wasn’t for the woodwork and us having a mesley 1 striker on our books a victory would have been a defeat for you. Well done on the 3 points but you have a long season ahead if yesterday is anything to go by. We will finish no higher than 5th……which is disappointing. Newcastle will finish 7th or 8th imo
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
Stevo itv are showing hearts liverpool, nothing on the espn shedule for this week, maybe they have the reverse fixtures?
Dubtoon(Quote)
Wolfie, c5 lost the rights. Shared by espn and itv now. Im sure there’ll be a stream somewhere…
Dubtoon(Quote)
An under par Toon side beat your guys Milky.. would of, could of, should of… means nothing when you lose.. nice to see you think we will get poorer and Spurs are destined to improve… not sure how you are drawing that conclusion.. there was nothing between our teams last year and Spurs are much weaker with a dodgy mnager. Good luck anyway..
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
MBY
I think bossed is a bit of a strong word, yes you hit the bar and crossbar but spurs couldn’t shoot for f-ck, Defoe had to score from 5/6 feet from goal to hit the target and he was offside for that. Ben Arfa ripped spurs a new one and we managed to defend against a strong spurs frontline without our captain and in my and many others opinion our best player in Colocinni. So head back to your own blog to moan about how you’ll finish outside the top 6 if you don’t buy another forward and we’ll keep doing what we do, support a great club who are on the up.
andymag(Quote)
Milky no team is at their best. You think those 5-0 wins will be regular occurances for swansea etc? We were without our captain and cab aye and ben area had barely touched the ball pre season, neither had ba and cisse the last few weeks, and a number of players fasting for ramadan. Spurs weren’t at their best but neither will 15 other teams in the league have been. As for the woodwork, ask liverpool where that gets you 🙄
Dubtoon(Quote)
Just watched MOTD highlights and noticed that lad playing at Swansea, Routledge is his name I think, had a great game, a couple of assists and a goal. Swansea are interested in Obertan apparently, maybe we can do a swap deal plus cash to get him to the toon ?
Munich Mag(Quote)
I think Pards is a legend for it. Fair enough it’s against the rules blah blah blah but it was just pure passion and an automatic reflex so meh
Moreno(Quote)
Milky Bar Yid always good to have some knowledgeable Spurs fans visiting the blog. I personally think the best team won, and that you will struggle from here on in. You wouldn’t have achieved what you achieved last season without loanee Adebayor, at least all of our stars, and we have several of them throughout our squad, belong to NUFC.
Huge mistake sacking ‘arry, it’ll take you 2 seasons to recover I’m afraid.
Good luck for the new season…
Munich Mag(Quote)
Who’s got a soft spot for our man Paredw 🙂 🙂
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
aussie magpie fan Pardew had 3 Weetabix before the game mate, pushed him over the edge… 😳
Munich Mag(Quote)
Please tell me that’s a joke /\ /\
I Love Mike(Quote)
The Spurs fans who come on here are actually the best lot as it happens. They all love the night out in the town aswell and conduct themselves as modern shandy drinking gentleman
Moreno(Quote)
MM
Sarcasm is hard to convey over text so you’ll excuse when I say ‘What the f-ck?’ 😉
andymag(Quote)
Boys, it’s an observation. You were pretty much at full strength apart from Colo whereas we were without Parker and (our 2 central midfielders from last season) and played Defoe up top alone which is always a no-no. You can only beat who is put in front of you so fair play to yous but if you think you will finish 5th again you have a big shock coming…..you have Europe to contend with this season and those long trips to the arseholes of Europe on thurs nights will also have a negative effect.
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
Wayne did play well for Swansea but was helped significantly by atrocious defending by QPR, don’t know why they’re never like that when we play them, we always struggle to get a result.
andymag(Quote)
MBY
Yes we have Europa but so do you, and player by player I feel we have a better squad except maybe at LW and RB.
andymag(Quote)
MILKYBARYID:
You seem pretty confident we won’t finish in the top 5. Are you basing that on one game?
Your problem is, you think you are strong and tough and only the best is good enough…the slinkiest team……the brightest stars….the goodness that’s in Spurs yah naaaaaaaa.
Well let me tell you something. You aren’t as tough as you think. 😉
wolfie(Quote)
andymag@38….no problem mate, I can read between the lines what you are trying to say… 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
Wolfie@42…..nice one, didn’t think you were that old…. 😆 .
Munich Mag(Quote)
MBY
your point about us being at full strength is too oversimplified. We were missing our best player and captain who helps us build from the back. Couple that with your high pressure system and the fact you had three cm’s to our two and of course you dominate. However, once we addressed just one of those issues we matched you in the second half. Colo is a massive miss, but we got over it and took the three points. End of.
The Kid(Quote)
Milky Bar,
Full strength on paper maybe but we have 4 players who we were surprised to see on the team sheet due to them being doubtful for injuries…our pre-season has been majorly disrupted and has featured our second string with our 4 best players getting no playing time whatsoever…all in all, the atmosphere at st. james was probably the deciding factor in lifting tired legs
Moreno(Quote)
Twas a real scrappy game but it was our 1st game back and we were carrying a few players that were clearly not up to full pelt, so I have no doubts we will get better.
For me Jonas was man of the match the engine on that guy never give’s up like a Hemi, Benny was a close 2nd and I said during the game he must have a volume switch on his boots cause everytime he picked the ball up the sound of the crowd went up a few db’s.
Big Dave(Quote)
Timmy made a brilliant one on one save in the first half which kept us in the game. The bloke is just brilliant, approaching being one of the best goalies in the EPL if you ask me.
See ex England stalwart Rob Green had a canny game for QPR …. 😳
Munich Mag(Quote)
52,385 is a good attendance for the opening fixture, during the holidays too. but no ashley ❓
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Stevo @19 channel five have lost the rights to euro games .It’s itv4 and espn now .Have checked espn for thursday but only showing french league game!.ITV4 showing hearts v liverpool. I can only assume Toon are on ITV.COM since that is where other games are being shown.Strange that it’s not on espn though.
kimtoon(Quote)
MM@43
😉
MM@48
And he went to the euros with england aswell 🙄 , if I was Forster I’d be well pissed of that an old clumsy oaf and I young kid who’d only played at league 2 footie before this season was ahead of him in the pecking order.
Andymag(Quote)
Munich@44, Aye I’m gettnig on a bit. 😆
wolfie(Quote)
Seems to me a few of you are starting to believe your own hype. Fact is last season you done much better than expected and for that you have to be congratulated but you will find it tougher this season…..it’s not a dig at you, just my opinion. I’ve also said Spurs won’t mirror last seasons achievement but you chose to ignore that and feel I’m here to dig you out…I have nothing against Newcastle. Although we are a club in massive transition (manager, system and players) we will still finish above you. If you take offence to that then you are just angry that it’s the truth and its hard to accept. Fact is you played us at the perfect time yesterday.
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
Also meant to say that I thought Saylor had a good game, and made Perch’s time a bit easier for him, because he ended up with not really much to do against the mighty spuds 😀 .
But on a slightly negative side I think yesterday showed us we need a Striker in, as we had to replace the injured Strolla with a MFer. Oh and I hope that screamer has helped Ba’s confidence.
Big Dave(Quote)
Ok yes Benny draws some attention with him and Spurs were forced to use 2-3 defenders to stop his raids, but i hate sloppy passes and lack of focus.
but the thing i noticed was that he was much better in defence than last season.
maybe i am hard by judging him this way, but we cant afford that kind of football against Chelski.
Cabaye, and Simpson was equally as bad.
my favorites from yesterday are Tiote and Ba… Saylor
DanishToon(Quote)
Thing is though milky kid,
When you are winning games why wouldn’t you believe your hype? What’s not to believe, the points are on the board, you’re sat in the right position and the future is unknown.
“Fact is last season you done much better than expected”
Try changing that to the last three seasons…
Moreno(Quote)
Dave
Aye, loved that bit were he lay down to head the ball to Krul. 😀
MBY
You are allowed to have your opinion just like we are allowed to have ours, my personal opinion is that we will finish 4/5th and spurs will finish either just behind us our just behind Arsenal(behind us). Without Modric and Adebeyor you are significantly weakened and will struggle, AVB will panic at the end of the window and make some silly buys that won’t help you.
andymag(Quote)
Moreno, you’ve only been in the prem for the last 2 seasons??? You done better than expected in the Championship? ……I rest my case
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
Andy Mag, 4th or 5th? Ha ha you are deluded. The top 4 WILL be made up of Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal. Spurs and Liverpool for 5th and 6th and then Newcastle 7th at best…..you will 100% not finish in a CL place.
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
MBY
How does that rest your case, of course we did better than was expected of us in the championship, we were expected to either mellow there for a few seasons or go down again. Instead we came back up in the first tries with one of the highest pont totals in championship history.
Andymag(Quote)
A team that is surprised by promotion should not expect top 4 finishes
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
Tottenham came and gave us a fight. The game wasn’t pretty and the scoreline was tight.
Our Demba the Ba scored a brilliant goal and boosted his mind and even his soul.
Ben Arfa was jinky and clever and bright and gave Spurs’ defenders one hell of a fright…..He ran through on goal and was tripped in the box, then grabbed hold of the ball like a sly young Fox.
In Perchy and Taylor our back line was sound with Santon and Simpson both giving their pound………They dealt with the Spurs when the game became tense and made Gareth bale look worth 50 pence.
When officials miss errors and their vision they lack…you can trust Alan Pardew to shove him in the back.
The result wasn’t pretty…but then do we care, as the spoils were all ours and no points we share.
The season has started and started so well….and we have 3 points, of that you can tell.
We’re off to a flier so let us now soar..and look forward to more wins with the St.James’ roar. 😀
wolfie(Quote)
I’ll come and see you again in May…..good luck for the season
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
STEVO ch 5 no longer doing footy mate,but itv 4 are showing one of the toon games cannot find out yet if its the away or home leg but showing one of them 😉
icedog(Quote)
MBY I noticed you’s seem to badly miss Man Cities Striker, for being such a big club why don’t you’s get your own Striker instead of going cap and hand to City to get them to help you’s get into the top 6.
Big Dave(Quote)
MILKYBARYID@61:
Nobody is expecting to finish 4th or 5th, it’s the HOPE of the fans for that.
We know where we stand, so there’s no undue pressure on us.
Tottenham are expected to do better than we are by you and your fellow fans, yet it’s based on your new manager pulling something special out of the bag which I don’t think he has the magic wand you need. You had a better manager in Redknapp and Villas Boas will probably fail miserably.
I predict a bad season for you and I’ll stick my neck out and say 9th and you can come back and quote me on it. 😀
wolfie(Quote)
Why should Arsenal finish in the top 4 this season, they’ve lost their main striker and their replacements are ****, bar Cazorla as I’ve not seen him play before.
Andymag(Quote)
Big Dave, we will get our own striker and it galls me we always wait until after the season starts to do business. Once we spend the Modric money we will be fine, not as good as last year but still decent enough to finish above the majority (you included).
Wolfie, speak to you in may……
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
Andy Mag, I detest Arsenal but please grow up….they are better than Newcastle.
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
MBY
No I won’t grow up 😡 😉
Arsenal felt a big loss with Clichy, fabregas and nasri going, they relied a lot on RVP and he single-handedly kept them from dropping out of the the top4/6. They will struggle massively without him. It is a battle between our 3 clubs for 4th this season.
andymag(Quote)
Andy Mag @ 60
Exactly….
Milky Bar Kid has unfortunately tarnished my opinion of the amount of excellent Spurs fans that come on here by talking absolute nonesense. Shame.
Moreno(Quote)
Moreno, I’ve said we will finish above you. You rubbish that as nonsense? On what basis? So you now think after one game YOU will finish above us? You are a decent club that has been previously a shambles that are now a steady ship and improving. Do not get carried away…
Milky Bar Yid(Quote)
MBY so what your saying is for such a big club you’s can’t afford to buy players until you’s sell Modric ?
As you say you win’t finish as high this year but you’s will finish above us ? Considering it was only because Man city helped you’s last yr that you’s finished above us, so who’s going to help your big club this year 😆 Chelski,**** or maybe Manure 😳 I think you’s will be on your own.
then when you’s fail to qualify for Europe you’ll need to wave bye to Bale and maybe a few others as your top players won’t want to stick with a mid table team.
Big Dave(Quote)
Andy don’t forget to add Song to that list of ex **** players 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Great result, was a bit worried without Colo even though we had everyone else, still think we should stick to 4-3-3 if we’re going to play these players, as Demba is a top class striker and can score from anywhere, as he proved! Hopefully he’ll be happy on the left as long as he still gets some goals..
Newkie(Quote)