Tottenham Lose As Newcastle Score Two Second Half Goals

Tottenham went ahead in the first half through Emmanuel Adebayor but two Newcastle goals in twelve minutes after the interval left Spurs with only one Premier League win since August.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Newcastle United 2

Scorers: Adebayor Amoebi, Perez

Team: Lloris, Dier, Kaboul (c), Vertonghen, Rose; Capoue (Kane), Mason; Chadli, Eriksen, Lamela (Lennon); Adebayor (Soldado) Subs: (unused) Vorm, Chiriches, Davies, Dembele

On the day that Tottenham marked the 10th anniversary of the passing of their greatest manager, Bill Nicholson, Spurs produced a performance similar to the one displayed on the day of his death in 2004. A 2 – 1 home defeat with little worthy of praise which means Spurs have only achieved one win in seven leagues games since August.

Mauricio Pochettino made just two changes to the team which lost at Manchester City. Jan Vertonghen replaced the suspended Federico Fazio and Emmanuel Adebayor came in for Roberto Soldado.

In a first half dominated by Tottenham, with 69% possession, Spurs had only one goal to show for their efforts. That came after 18 minutes when Newcastle first blocked a shot by Nacer Chadli and one by Christian Eriksen. The ball came to Ryan Mason in the area and he delivered a perfect chipped cross onto the head of Adebayor who put the ball back across the goalkeeper to give Spurs the lead.

Spurs had the better of the early play as Newcastle sat deep but pressed whenever Spurs had possession. The Tottenham play and passing was accurate but was giving Newcastle few problems. Danny Rose on the left was given plenty of space but his shots and crosses lacked accuracy.

Tim Krul who was the star for Newcastle last season was relatively untroubled as all of Spurs attempts on goal were from distance and off-target. Ryan Mason worked hard and was the driving force for much of the home side’s best play. He was energetic and was constantly looking for a pass to create an opening.

In those opening minutes, Newcastle got forward quickly to deliver a cross which Hugo Lloris punched out. It fell to Colback but his shot went well wide.

Following Adebayor’s goal Spurs continued to press and kept Newcastle penned back in their own half but without creating any clear-cut chances. Newcastle had a quick break in the 37th minute but with a man over on their left, failed to take advantage. The best Spurs chance came in in the 43rd minute when a free-kick from Eriksen found Chadli unmarked on the left of the Newcastle area. With time to control the ball, Chadli fired over.

Having been in total control, Spurs were caught cold after the interval with Newcastle substitute Ameobi equalising after 6 seconds. A ball played forward allowed Ameobi to get behind Eric Dier and taking it into the area he drove the ball across Lloris.

Newcastle’s two half-time substitutions made a difference to their team which was now full of running and Spurs were troubled and had little response to the set-back. Their one opportunity came in the 52nd minute when an Eriksen shot from a cross by Rose was deflected wide.

In the 57th minute, Sissoko took the ball forward and passed for Cabello, the second substitute, to deliver a cross which Perez headed into the goal, scoring on his first league start for Newcastle.

Tottenham attempted to raise their game but Newcastle were strong in defence and protected their goal with effort and determination.The Spurs shots were blocked, deflected away from danger or simply off target. In the 65th minute a shot by Eriksen was deflected over and from his corner the ball was put into the net by Adebayor but the referee’s assistant signalled that the ball had gone out of play.

Harry Kane, Aaron Lennon and Roberto Soldado were introduced in the final half an hour but it made little difference as Newcastle held on to their advantage. The best chance came when from a cross by Rose, Kane’s shot was held comfortably by Krul.