Newcastle snatched an unlikely three points at White Hart Lane after substitute Ayoze Perez scored in the fourth minute of injury time to hand Steve McClaren’s side victory.
Going in to the game Tottenham were 14 league matches unbeaten, having only lost once this campaign at Manchester United on the opening day. Newcastle weren’t in bad form themselves after coming to the Lane on the back of a fine 2-0 victory over Liverpool last weekend.
However, it looked as though the unbeaten run would be continuing after Spurs took the lead through Eric Dier on 39 minutes. The defender-turned-defensive-midfielder leapt highest to meet Christian Eriksen’s inswinging corner from the left, with his effort having enough power and accuracy on it to take it past Rob Elliott despite the keeper’s best efforts to claw the ball away.
Going in to half-time Spurs were full value for their lead, and should have gone in with a bigger lead after Danny Rose and Harry Kane came close in a comfortable first-half.
The second half continued in much of the same vein but Mauricio Pochettino’s side couldn’t add to their solitary goal, which in an unforgiving Premier League season leaves you vulnerable particularly with Newcastle’s strength on the substitutes bench.
And it was a Magpies replacement that brought them level in the game. A scramble in the box following a Collocini header at the back-post was eventually turned in on the line by Aleksander Mitrovic, who had stepped off the bench just 90 seconds earlier to replace Papiss Cisse to stab the ball home.
At that point the momentum shifted to the away side, with the Newcastle away following notching the atmosphere level up another notch. Spurs reacted by throwing men forward in the search for a winner, which left them suspectable to Newcastle counter attacks.
With 3 minutes of the additional four added on having been played, it looked as though both sides were destined for a point apiece, however Newcastle snatched all 3 points with the final attack of the game as substitute Perez took Hugo Lloris by surprise with an early strike from a tight angle to send the Magpies into delirium.
It continue’s Newcastle’s fine form of late at White Hart Lane, with them picking up victories in all three of the last league games at N17. It will be a major disappointment for Spurs who looked so comfortable at 1-0, but with the failure to add to that tally coupled with Newcastle’s strength of substitutions, Steve McClaren’s side pick up a second win in a row and climb out of the relegation zone, with Spurs remaining in 5th.
Newcastle manager Steve McClaren spoke to Sky Sports after the game: “The result is huge, massive. Not just the performance but the result. Back-to-back wins, which we haven’t had for about a year, and we haven’t had a comeback win for over a year.
These are the things that test the team and they have shown fantastic character. “That is what we are and that is what we want to be. The players showed fantastic effort, attitude, work-rate, and we have some talented players as well. We deserved the win with the second half we had.
“There was a great response at half-time from my players. I didn’t have to say anything, they said it all. The resilience they showed in the second half was fantastic. We need to keep that going now, week in week out.
“Pat on the back for the subs. Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic didn’t play the last game but were ready to come on and had that impact. They’re winners again.
“There’s still a long way to go. But after a lot of criticism the players have come back well to get to magnificent results. To be out of the bottom three is obviously huge, but getting a result from a performance like that really boosts you.”
And keeper Elliott was just as delighted with the result: “It’s a bit euphoric to be fair, the fans have been unbelievable sticking with us. The lads were amazing and after last week, we had to make sure we didn’t take our foot off the gas.
”The boys who came on to score the goals have been a bit unlucky not to play from the start. When we all play together you see what happens.”
And Spurs boss Pochettino had this to say about the defeat to BBC Sport: “I think our first half was fantastic; we dominated the game. The second is not easy to explain. We made mistakes and we feel very disappointed now because we did not deserve to lose. But that is football and you need to compete over 95 minutes. Today was difficult.
“The game was under control. We conceded two goals because we made simple mistakes but we need to look forward. In football it is impossible sometimes to explain why.
“After 45 minutes you never expected to lose the game. Thursday [in the Europa League] is not an excuse, there is nothing to say about Thursday. It is not about physical condition. We gave the ball away and needed more control. We conceded two easy goals and that is why we are disappointed. ”
This defeat does not change my feeling – I am happy with the squad. You always look at options but I am very happy with the squad I have.”
