Tottenham Hotspur outlast Newcastle United to get the Premier League victory

Tottenham Hotspur hosted Newcastle and got 3 points out of them. While the 1-0 win wasn’t a blowout, Tottenham looked like the stronger side and should carry their heads high in the coming weeks.

First Half

From early on, it was obvious that Tottenham had higher quality of play than Newcastle. While the Magpies struggled to get into their opponent’s third, Spurs were able to get into the box time and again. It seemed like Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son were camping right in front of Dubravka and could have put their side up early.

Newcastle had to resort to punting the ball upfield for Rondon to chase. The likes of Kieran Trippier and Davinson Sanchez were always there to stop Rondon’s runs.

Tottenham’s best chance of the half was from Erik Lamela. Jan Vertonghen was playing as a wing back and doing a great job of it. He sent a beautiful cross into the box and Lamela was there to get off a post-rocking shot.

Within the last 15 minutes or so of the half Newcastle woke up. Perez could have easily scored as he was right in front of goal but didn’t hit the ball right. Rondon tried to capitalize as well but Newcastle had to settle for a pair of corners, which Tottenham defended. At one point, Yedlin played Perez well into the box, who almost got the better of Vertonghen. After all the action, the half ended 0-0.

Second Half

In the 49th minute, Lamela put in a beautiful corner that Sanchez headed way off target. It would have been 1-0 Tottenham if that was Harry Kane because Dubravka was way out of position.

Soon, it was Tottenham’s turn to have their keeper almost beat with some lovely inter-play from Rondon and Yedlin but the shot came off the post.

Spurs responded with some inter-play of their own featuring Son, Lamela, and Trippier. This almost produced a back-heel goal from Eriksen but Schar barely got a leg to it. The Magpies were quick to respond with this new tactic and were happy to stay back even more, relying on the counter for any attacking action.

Still, Son never gave up. Fernando Llorente laid it off for Son at the top of the box and kicked it just off Dubravka’s mitts. It was a very unlikely goal but with 3 points on the line it had to be tried. In the closing minutes, Newcastle tried to get one back but Tottenham didn’t budge. In the end, it was Tottenham 1-0 Newcastle.

As of now, Tottenham sit in 2nd place with a point more than Manchester City and Newcastle remain in 13th place. Spurs now look to continue their Premier League win streak against Leicester on Sunday the 10th.