Newcastle 2 Tottenham 1: Ange Postecoglou’s side made to rue missed chances as Alexander Isak bags late winner
ALEXANDER ISAK spared Nick Pope’s blushes as Newcastle continued their unbeaten start to the season.
It was a rope-a-dope performance, but Eddie Howe will not care one bit as Ange Postecoglou’s decision to go for it was punished.
This fixture always promises goals, with the last goalless draw between these two coming in the 1970s, and it did not take long for this clash to burst into life.
Two huge banners dominated the Gallowgate End prior to kick off to welcome the return of Sandro Tonali.
However, the ‘Midfield maestro from Milano’ had to settle for a place on the bench for this one but that failed to put a dampener on things.
Son Heung-min failed to clear a corner and was robbed by Isak, with the Swede chipping it towards the back post, only to see it clip the woodwork.
Anthony Gordon then cut inside Cristian Romero to find Harvey Barnes, but this time the winger’s bending effort whistled past the far post from 25 yards.
But Toon’s momentum was halted after a break in play when injured referee assistant Ian Hussin was replaced by fourth official Darren Bond due to a thigh problem.
That allowed Spurs to regroup, and Pape Matar Sarr forced Pope into a diving save from distance before another long-ranger went over.
But Newcastle survived their spell on the backfoot to take the lead when Llyod Kelly ran down the left into the box and pulled it back into the middle for Barnes.
The 26-year-old then showed superb technique as he opened up his body to place it on the volley into the far corner to send the home crowd wild.
Tottenham tried to respond and put more pressure on the home defence but, much to Postecoglou’s frustration, his side could not create any clear-cut chances.
So it was Newcastle who held the advantage come the break, but Howe still had several concerns.
Kelly’s name had gone into the book after retaliating to being nutmegged by Son by tugging at the South Korean’s shirt.
And he was joined in there by Sean Longstaff and Joelinton, leaving all three walking a tightrope going into the second period.
In an attempt to try and spice up his attack, Postecoglou replaced Sarr with Brennan Johnson, giving his team licence to go forward but leaving them open at the back.
And they almost got caught twice before the equaliser, but the Spurs boss had Radu Dragusin to thank for keeping his side in it.
Isak beat the offside trap to get in behind the defence and race through on goal as St James’ held its collective breath seconds after the restart.
The Swedish striker had support but opted to go it alone, only to be denied as he pulled the trigger by a brilliant Dragusin sliding tackle.
And it proved to be a vital moment as Spurs took complete control as Postecoglou’s bold decision to go for it paid dividends with Johnson at the heart of it.
Not even the ardent Geordie could deny that it had been coming, especially after Pedro Porro had rattled the bar.
James Maddison got the ball out left and cut inside just in the area to curl it towards the opposite bottom corner.
Pope dived but could only palm it straight into the path of Johnson, and the Welsh forward rifled it back across the goalline past the despairing keeper as Dan Burn ended up blasting it into his own net as he tried to clear on the line.
The England international will know he could do better, but he made amends by stopping Maddison and Porro later.
Isak with the late winner
Newcastle were struggling to get out of their half as Bruno Guimaraes went into the book as frustrations threatened to boil over.
Howe responded by replacing his goalscorer with Jacob Murphy, while Tonali made his Premier League return for Longstaff and Lewis Hall took over from Kelly.
Murphy almost caught Spurs out after a rare attack only for Guglielmo Vicario to deny him at the near post.
But it was Johnson’s introduction down the right for Tottenham that looked to have changed everything and he almost forced another own goal, only this time Bruno’s clearance trickled wide.
Postecoglou smelt blood, and he went for it as Timo Werner came on for Wilson Odobert, but it would be his men that suffered a late knockout blow as their high-line was caught out.
Joelinton spotted the defence high and threaded a perfect through ball for Murphy to dart through towards Vicario.
The sub powered forward towards the goalie before correctly deciding to slip it to his left ten yards out for the onrushing Isak to poke into the empty net.
Spurs huffed and puffed for a way back, but after five nervous minutes of additional time, the whistle finally went to the relief of Howe.