Match Report: Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 Newcastle United

Newcastle United heaped further pressure on Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank with a hard-fought Premier League victory in North London.

By Liam Rafferty

The Magpies opened the scoring just before half-time when defender Malick Thiaw reacted quickest after his initial header was parried by Guglielmo Vicario, tapping home from close range.

Tottenham found an equaliser in the 64th minute through Archie Gray, whose volley from a deep corner found its way into the net to bring the home crowd back to life.

Parity was short-lived, however. Newcastle regained the lead soon after as Anthony Gordon led a devastating counter-attack, squaring the ball for Jacob Ramsey to finish and restore the visitors’ advantage.

'Struggled'

'Spurs’ struggles continued heading into this fixture, with the North London side winless in seven Premier League matches. They remain just six points above the relegation zone following last weekend’s 2–0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Already under intense pressure, Thomas Frank now has the lowest win percentage of any Tottenham manager in the Premier League era to have taken charge of 10 or more games.

For Newcastle, the victory arrived at a pivotal moment. Eddie Howe’s side came into the match on a run of three straight league defeats, the latest a disappointing home loss to Brentford that drew rare boos from the St James’ Park faithful. This game was their fourth of nine in a demanding 28-day spell across all competitions, and they were desperate to stop the slide. Achieving that away from home was no small task, with Newcastle having won just two of their previous 15 Premier League matches on the road.

'Dying moments'

Newcastle thought they had extended their lead in first-half stoppage time when former Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock calmly slotted home, only for VAR to rule the goal out after an extremely tight decision.

Tottenham nearly snatched a late equaliser in the dying moments, but Micky van de Ven blazed over from close range.

Attention now turns to the FA Cup, with Newcastle preparing for an away trip to Aston Villa.