Spurs 1-2 Newcastle: Toon make huge statement with mammoth win in London
An outstanding performance and Eddie Howe masterclass as Newcastle United come away from North London with a 2-1 win over Tottenham.
In this fixture back in April, we collapsed when the going got tough and succumbed to a 5-1 battering, but not today.
Today we played without fear, pressed from the front, passed the ball around superbly, never looked flustered, defended brilliantly as a unit and took our chances emphatically, with Callum Wilson's perfectly weighted chip and another moment of Miguel Almiron magic seeing us through.
The win takes us into the top four, leapfrogging Man Utd and Chelsea as we move up to 21 points for the season after 12 games played.
Our fourth victory in our last five games and another tough test passed with flying colours, with us now unbeaten in our last seven matches and heading into Saturday's meeting with Aston Villa full of belief and confidence.
Howe made just one change for this one, with Joe Willock coming in for Jacob Murphy; a change that meant the passed-fit Joelinton started on the left-hand side. Bruno Guimaraes was also able to play - a big pre-match positive after some wondered if he'd miss out following the birth of his first child on Friday.
The first half was a brilliant watch. We could've sat back and relied on counter attacks in search of a smash and grab, but we played with confidence, passed the ball around beautifully and were quick into tackles all over the pitch.
Thankfully, our positive start paid off and Callum Wilson grabbed his fourth of the season in controversial fashion. After colliding with Hugo Lloris - who was in no man's land and adamant he'd been fouled - our number nine got his head up and did superbly to chip past two Tottenham defenders and into an empty net. VAR checks followed but the goal was given, and rightly so! 1-0.
One then became two thanks to another moment of brilliance from who else but Miguel Almiron, who held off a challenge from Sessegnon and left Lenglet for dead before sliding the ball past Lloris from a tight angle. 2-0 Newcastle!
At this point, it had been an Eddie Howe masterclass. We did give Spurs a couple of chances, with the home side looking very dangerous the odd time we lost the ball high up the pitch, but Son didn't have his shooting boots on and Nick Pope made one brilliant save to deny the South Korean.
The second half started with a big penalty appeal, as Joelinton headed the ball back onto Emerson's outstretched arm. Nothing doing - despite Dan Burn being penalised against Brentford for the exact same motion a few weeks ago - and salt was rubbed into the wounds moments later as Harry Kane pulled one back on the 54th minute mark.
However, there was no panic from our perspective. We never let Tottenham get going, continued to press, were fully committed in all areas of the pitch but equally composed in everything we did, seeing out the win superbly while fingernails were being bitten to shreds all over Tyneside.
The scenes that followed in the away end looked magical. The players had given their all and they would've enjoyed that moment, make a huge statement at Spurs; a 'big six' rival who had won ALL of their home games in the Premier League this season prior to today's meeting.
What a win. What a performance. What a club.
Newcastle United are back.
