1-2 v Newcastle United - 1 September 2024 - Away

Newcastle maintained their unbeaten start to the season as they defeated Tottenham in a thrilling match at a packed and atmospheric St James' Park.

The hosts took a 37th-minute lead when Harvey Barnes superbly controlled a tricky side-footed finish after Lloyd Kelly had done well down the left and pulled the ball back.

But Tottenham levelled in the 56th minute. After Pedro Porro's shot had been deflected on to the crossbar moments earlier, half-time substitute Brennan Johnson had his shot sliced into his own goal by Newcastle defender Dan Burn.

Keeper Nick Pope then tipped over James Maddison's curled effort and Johnson fired over as Spurs piled on the pressure.

However, against the run of play, Newcastle regained their lead with 12 minutes left.

Joelinton started the move with excellent work in midfield and he released substitute Jacob Murphy who ran at the defence and crossed low for Alexander Isak to net the winner.

In another boost for Newcastle, Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali made his first Premier League appearance since October after he served a 10-month ban for breaching betting regulations.

The 24-year-old, who played in the away Carabao Cup second-round tie against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday received a standing ovation from the home fans when he came on as a second-half substitute.

The win lifted Newcastle up to fourth in the Premier League table with seven points from nine matches, but they would drop to fifth if Liverpool beat Manchester United later on Sunday.

Tottenham would have gone second with a win, but are now 10th after losing for the first time in this campaign.

Boss Ange Postecoglou will be wondering how they left the north east without anything to show for their efforts, having been the better team for large parts of the second half and a spell in the middle of the opening period.

Spurs had two-thirds possession, 20 shots at goal compared to only nine from Newcastle, while the hosts scored from two of their three attempts on target.

After winning 6-1 and 4-0 in their past two home games against the Londoners, Newcastle nearly went ahead after only five minutes.

But having stolen the ball from Son Heung-min, Swedish striker Isak was denied by the woodwork when his superb chip left Guglielmo Vicario beaten.

Barnes, Emil Krafth and Kelly all had chances before a forced delay, which saw fourth official Darren Bond replace injured assistant Ian Hussin, stopped Newcastle's momentum.

At the other end Cristian Romero earlier had a header ruled out for offside and Wilson Odobert and Porro missed the target, with Pape Sarr forcing a good save from Pope.

They rued those spurned opportunities as, against the run of play, Barnes was given too much space to steer in his first goal of the season.

The introduction of Welsh winger Johnson at half-time looked to have transformed the game with Spurs well on top.

Their equaliser came after 10 minutes into the second half and, from there, it looked there would only be one winner. But Spurs got hit by another sucker punch as Murphy broke to tee up Isak for his crucial first goal of the campaign.