Tottenham Lose to Newcastle at White Hart Lane Again

White Hart Lane is home to Tottenham Hotspur, but against Newcastle United for the past three games it’s anything but, as the Magpies get another win in enemy territory.

For the entirety of today’s game against Newcastle, Tottenham dominated in four meaningful statistics that should theoretically earn yourself a win: possession, shots, shots on goal and chances created.

Unfortunately the most important stat at the end of the day is the final scoreline and in this instance, Spurs fell for the second time this season in the Premier League, but for the third successive time against Newcastle dating back to the November 10, 2013 just over two years ago.

Today’s loss ends Tottenham’s 14-game unbeaten streak since losing their opening match against Manchester United on August 8th. Despite losing to Newcastle once again, and dropping three points to prevent themselves from leapfrogging the Red Devils for fourth place. There’s no need to panic.

In fact, Tottenham are mainly disappointed, not upset. This is the same approach that supporters should feel too. Spurs are still in the running for a top-four finish at the end of the season and are currently at a good spot with three more “winnable” fixtures for the month of December.

Now, as to how Tottenham lost this match, it’s unknown what was the cause for Spurs letting their lead slip away once again. But if one were to guess, it may have been attributed to getting the first goal and providing what will now be called a false sense of hope. Seeing as how Newcastle were poor statistically speaking and from the eye test as well in the first half only.

After Eric Dier scored his third goal of the season in the 39th minute off of a Christian Eriksen free kick, due to being left unmarked by Fabricio Coloccini. This gave Tottenham more confidence as they would head into half-time with a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately, leading was also the start of their demise. Not right away of course, but over time you could see Tottenham’s tactics change as the game wore on. During the first 15 minutes, Tottenham were flying and doing exactly what Eric Dier had said yesterday: “I think we have to start strong like we did against Monaco, try to be on the front foot straight from the off and kill any momentum Newcastle may have from last week.”

Once the second-half started and it was clear that Tottenham felt like Newcastle weren’t going to pose much of a threat, Spurs let their guard down. Looking at the half-time stats between both clubs below, it’s no surprise as to why Tottenham felt comfortable with holding onto a 1-0 lead instead of pushing for more goals.

HALF-TIME STATISTICS

Tottenham Hotspur (left) vs Newcastle United (right)

Possession: 58% | 42%
Shots (on goal): 11 (4) | 2 (0)
Chances created: 9 | 2

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However once Newcastle got the equalizer in the 74th minute from Aleksandar Mitrovic, two minutes after coming on for Papiss Cissé, this is when the cracks in Spurs’ defense and possession game started to dip at the worst possible time.

Now overall, Tottenham still won the battle at four key statistics at the end of the game: possession (58% to 42%), shots (20 to 8), shots on goal (8 to 4) and chances created (16 to 7), over Newcastle.

But conceding a goal was more than enough to shake Spurs’ confidence to close out a game against a team that they haven’t beaten at home since February 9, 2013. Nearly three years ago.

The fact that Newcastle were intercepting passes from sloppy giveaways, catching Tottenham on quick counterattacks with dangerous runs and creating chances, showed a brief glimpse of Spurs not wanting to win the game. But rather only looking to take the one point by drawing a third consecutive game. Whereas, for the Magpies they were more incessant on pushing for the winning goal and continuing a winning streak at White Hart Lane for another year.

Next: Matchday: Tottenham 1-2 Newcastle

So with a second loss on Spurs’ record, where does Tottenham go from here?

For the next six days, the players will be resting and training in preparation for a trip to the south coast to face Southampton. The battle for fourth place is still wide open even if Manchester United is still three points clear of Spurs. Tottenham needs to get wins in order to truly pose a threat to the top half of the table, obviously.

Perhaps a loss may helpe reignite that fire in Tottenham’s eyes to kill games off instead of waiting for the game to be over. If Spurs aren’t fighting for wins like they were before, then there’s a chance that Spurs could sit behind Crystal Palace and Watford who are right behind them in the league table.