Men's

Matchday 12

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Sun 23 Oct 2022 | 16:30

Tottenham Hotspur Badge

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2

  • Wilson
    31'
  • Almirón
    40'

Match Report

Newcastle United's impressive early season form continued with a superb win at Tottenham which lifted them up into fourth in the Premier League table.

They went ahead in contentious circumstances, Callum Wilson finding the net with an excellent lob from outside the box after colliding with Hugo Lloris.

The goal was awarded after a lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) check for a foul and handball, but there was nothing controversial about the second goal before half-time.

A poor clearance by Lloris was intercepted by Sean Longstaff before Miguel Almiron beat one opponent and went around another and fired under the Spurs keeper for his fifth goal in five league games.

Spurs pulled a goal back through Harry Kane's low header from close range, awarded after another lengthy VAR check for offside, but Newcastle held on to secure the points.

While it is the first time Newcastle have been in the top four of the table with 12 games played since April 2012, Tottenham have now lost their last two and are in danger of going backwards.

They started positively with Son Heung-min and Harry Kane both denied by visiting keeper Nick Pope.

But, with thunder and lightning in the air, Spurs struggled as the weather deteriorated and in the end they could have few complaints about the outcome.

Tottenham remain third in the table but boss Antonio Conte will be a worried man after a second defeat inside a week.

Wednesday's 2-0 setback at Manchester United was a missed opportunity to show what a force they could become under the Italian.

On Sunday, they started on the front foot before fading as their impressive 10-match winning run at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium came to a grinding halt after an underwhelming performance.

There will be complaints from the home dressing room that Newcastle's first goal was allowed to stand with Rodrigo Bentancur booked for arguing with the referee about the decision.

But even after Kane reduced the deficit, Spurs did not test Pope enough as they lost at home for the first time since 16 April.

Attention now switches to the Champions League and Conte will demand an improved performance at home against Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday.