Newcastle 1-1 Tottenham (5-4 penalties) – Unlikely hero hands Toon the win in Oz

Newcastle United kicked off their post-season trip to Australia with a penalty shootout win over Spurs after a 1-1 draw in normal time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

In the 10:45am kick-off in front of over 78,000 at the MCG, we saw a Nick Pope error gift Spurs an early lead, Alexander Isak level the scoring and Garang Kuol come on for his first Newcastle appearance along with a host of other Toon talents.

After the 90 was up, the game went to spot-kicks, which featured a Mark Gillespie save and five perfects penalties from Eddie’s Young Mags as Kuol and Harrison Ashby scored the final two to hand us the win.

Alex Isak on the scoresheet at the @MCG! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/X7FQjINWC5

— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) May 22, 2024

There was plenty of excitement from the stands as the two teams entered the pitch. As a fan watching on NUFC TV, however, you had to wonder how the players felt just three days on from a long season full of injuries.

Eddie Howe named a strong side, with eight who started Sunday’s 4-2 win over Brentford remaining in his XI. Kieran Trippier returned at right-back, Emil Krafth was alongside Dan Burn at centre-back in Fabian Schar’s absence, Elliot Anderson replaced Sean Longstaff (who hasn’t traveled) in midfield and Miguel Almiron returned on the right. As expected, Aussie talent Garang Kuol was on the bench after returning from his loan spell with Dutch side Volendam.

Newcastle XI: Pope – Trippier, Krafth, Burn, Hall – Anderson, Guimaraes, Joelinton – Almiron, Isak, Barnes. (Subs: Gillespie, Wilson, J Murphy, Ashby, De Bolle, Kuol, White, Diallo, Turner-Cooke, A Murphy, Parkinson, Thompson, Charlton, Hernes.)

Spurs XI: Austin – Porro, Van de Ven, Dragusin, Royal – Bentancur, Sarr, Maddison – Kulusevski, Son, Johnson

Spurs made a decent start but we had the first effort of the match, as Alexander Isak fired just over from outside the area after he was picked out by Miguel Almiron.

We had another opening moments later, but Miggy’s lack of right foot was painfully clear as he tried to go down the outside after squaring up with a Spurs defender after bursting into the box. A friendly, but a moment of indecision that may show why Jacob Murphy kept his place for much of the run-in.

Lewis Hall – Newcastle Player of the Month for May – looked sharp once again at left-back, with Elliot Anderson also lively in midfield as he tried to drive us forward from deep.

Spurs had their first big opening midway through the first half as Porro found space down the right, but his cut-back was intercepted well by Burn before Maddison fired Spurs’ first effort of the match wide of Pope’s post. There was a Spurs penalty claim moments later as Trippier collided with Son, but the referee waved it away.

Joelinton took a knock to the knee but was OK to continue as Tottenham began to dominate possession and pin us back in our own half. It had been coming and Spurs took the lead with a little help from Nick Pope and the lack of VAR. His awful attempt to play out from the back was intercepted by Maddison, who sat down Krafth and smashed high into the net. The midfielder clearly handled the ball seconds before scoring – if VAR was in use it would’ve been disallowed – but it was a bad goal to concede and really poor from Pope.

Nick Pope 🫣#NUFC #THFC

pic.twitter.com/SkEY50XYM8

— NUFCBlog.co.uk (@NUFCblogcouk) May 22, 2024

Trippier was then replaced 10 minutes before the break, seeing Jacob Murphy come on at right-back. A pre-arranged sub to give him some minutes before England’s pre-Euro 2024 friendlies next month? Despite Dan Burn being on the pitch, the captains armband was handed to Joelinton.

Spurs very nearly made it 2-0 a few moments later. Son whipped in a low cross from their left and Brennan Johnson looked set to tap home from close range, only for Pope to redeem himself with a superb save.

A moment that summed up the game then followed at the other end as Isak was slipped through. He was in a race with Micky van de Ven – the man he sat down on multiple occasions in our 4-0 win last month – but he  didn’t fancy a long distance sprint and I don’t really blame him!

However, our top scorer still found the net and didn’t have to break stride in doing so. In the last attack of the first half, Bruno fed Murphy who arrived on the overlap down our right. His low cross was palmed out by Austin and Isak was on hand to tap home. 1-1

There were two changes heading into the second half as Callum Wilson and Joe White replaced Alexander Isak and Joelinton. Spurs also made a host of changes, seeing van de Ven, Maddison, Porro and Bentancur replaced by Oliver Skipp and a number of youngsters.

The first effort of the second 45 saw Barnes cut in from the left and curl an effort wide of Austin’s far post before Skipp was then booked for a blatant pull back at Bruno. The Brazilian – who was now wearing the captains armband – was involved again on the hour mark, as his edge of the box effort was too close to Austin after some good work from Anderson.

Our ‘Geordie Maradona’ had a chance of his own in our next attack, arriving at the back post after a counter attack saw Bruno set Wilson away down the right. But he failed to make a strong connection and the chance went.

More changes followed as Amadou Diallo came on along with Harrison Ashby – back from a loan spell at Swansea – and Alex Murphy; the Irish youngster who signed a new long-term deal just last week. This saw Harvey Barnes, Miguel Almiron and Dan Burn depart.

The game was petering out, as you’d expect, but the 78,000 crowd saw the introduction of Aussie talent Garang Kuol with 20 minutes remaining. His first ever appearance for Newcastle United and a chance for him to show what he can do after a tough loan spell in the Netherlands.

🇦🇺 Garang Kuol on for his Newcastle United debut.#NUFC ⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Xy3ObriKdy

— NUFCBlog.co.uk (@NUFCblogcouk) May 22, 2024

Howe then handed opportunities to a few more Toon talents, as Lucas De Bolle, Gateshead-born Dylan Charlton, Ciaran Thompson, Norwegian midfielder Travis Hernes, Ben Parkinson and came on for the closing stages, with Mark Gillespie also replacing Nick Pope.

There was a penalty appeal 10 minutes from time, as more good work from Jacob Murphy fed Diallo. The youngster got ahead of Skipp and appeared to be pulled back, but his protestations were ignored by the referee before three minutes of added time were signalled.

One thing to note from his short cameo was Kuol’s lack of confidence. He’s still young 19, left his homeland as a teenager last year and has faced two tough loan spells since. Hopefully it’s third time lucky and we find the right temporary move for the striker this summer, with regular game time at a decent level vital for his development.

No surprises that there was no goals in added time, meaning the match went straight to a penalty shootout to ensure there was a winner.

Gillespie saved Spurs’ opening spot kick and Joe White capitalised by slotting home calmly to give us an early lead in the shootout. A string of superb penalties followed as Ben Parkinson and Amadou Diallo smashed home to hand us a 3-2 advantage.

Kuol stepped up and scored to make it 4-2, Spurs made it 4-3 with the following spot-kick and Harrison Ashby made no mistake to secure a 5-4 win on penalties for Eddie Howe’s Mags.

A meaningless friendly win? You wouldn’t think so as Dan Burn ran onto the pitch to hug unlikely hero and fellow Geordie Gillespie! Sarcastic celebrations, perhaps, but it’s hard not to love these lads!

Next up, a meeting with the A-League All Star Men on Friday, 24th May. Hopefully another win, but more importantly another match that ends with no injuries ahead of a much-needed summer break; for some at least!