Newcastle vs. Tottenham: Winners and Losers from Premier League

Relegated Newcastle United thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at St. James' Park on the final day of the Premier League season. The embarrassing loss meant Mauricio Pochettino's side dropped down to third in the table, below north London rivals Arsenal who beat Aston Villa.

The Magpies were the superior side from start to finish, a delighted home crowd revelling in a performance they hope will convince manager Rafael Benitez to stay on into the Championship. Tottenham did not look interested and paid the price against a team more motivated to finish strongly.

Georginio Wijnaldum opened the scoring after 19 minutes, as the visitors' defence were easily cut apart. This was not for the last time on a day in which they would lose their status as the division's meanest back line.

Aleksandar Mitrovic made it 2-0 with a powerful header not long before half-time. Within the hour, Spurs had reduced the deficit through Erik Lamela, and their chances of coming back into the contest seemingly improved further when Mitrovic was sent off for a bad challenge on Kyle Walker.

Instead, the right-back's withdrawal saw Spurs lose all sense of shape, and the Magpies capitalised.

Wijnaldum made it 3-1 from the penalty spot after Moussa Sissoko capped a powerful run by going down softly. Substitute Rolando Aarons added a fourth on 85 minutes before Daryl Janmaat wrapped up the scoring shortly after in yet another poorly defended break.

Read on for the winners and losers from this Premier League clash.

Winner: Georginio Wijnaldum

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Wijnaldum scores his second of the afternoon to make it 3-1 for Newcastle.

Wijnaldum was one of several signings made last summer that have not worked out anywhere near as well as Newcastle would have liked.

His first goal against Tottenham confirmed him as the first Premier League-era player to score 11-plus goals all at home, per OptaJoe (the brace means he finishes with 12). This is a statistic reaffirming the idea this has been a player whose contributions have too often been more garnish than nourishment this season.

Indeed, these were Wijnaldum's first goals since mid-January. Newcastle fans will rightly wonder where the lively and alert player who turned up on Sunday has been in the intervening months.

Still, if he stays on in the north-east, this was a display to give the attacking midfielder a little breathing space from such scrutiny. If he is to move on, this was a timely reminder of his abilities for anybody considering making a bid for the Netherlands international.

Loser: Ryan Mason

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Ryan Mason has wasted his recent first-team opportunities.

Ryan Mason was handed a chance to impress in recent weeks with the suspensions of Mousa Dembele and Dele Alli opening up space in the Tottenham midfield.

Average in last week's loss to Southampton, he was just about a non-presence here.

Mason offered none of the determination and courageous play that rightly made him a first choice last season. There was little to work with ahead of him, but at his best he is a player who looks to make things happen.

While injuries have been problematic for much of this campaign, here Mason wasted a valuable opportunity to reiterate his worth in the absence of the aforementioned midfield peers.

Things got worse for Tottenham after Mason's half-time withdrawal. But the 24-year-old should take little comfort from that, being as culpable in the abject nature of their tone-setting opening period as anyone.

Winner: Andros Townsend

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Former Tottenham man Andros Townsend comforts his old team-mate Erik Lamela.

Mason's fellow Tottenham academy product, Andros Townsend, left his boyhood club in January.

Expressing fondness for his time in north London as he made his exit, it is unlikely Townsend will take too much joy from Newcastle humiliating his former team-mates. After all, it is his side who are heading down to the Championship rather than into the UEFA Champions League.

Still, the winger will likely—and rightly—take some satisfaction in delivering a solid individual performance in front of his old boss, Mauricio Pochettino. This especially took place on a day the Spurs' attack he was deemed unsuitable for were at their one-note worst, uninspired and woefully predictable.

Townsend was vigorous and focused, completing half of his eight attempted take-ons and creating four chances, as tallied by Squawka. Others were more decisively involved, but it was an outing in keeping with the positive efforts he has mostly put in since his transfer.

Should Roy Hodgson draft Townsend into his England squad for Euro 2016 this week, he will find a player full of confidence once again after a tough end to his Tottenham stay.

Loser: Mauricio Pochettino

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Mauricio Pochettino and his coaching staff watched what was probably the worst performance by their side this season.

While this writer singled out Mason earlier for the added negative of letting a valuable chance to impress go by unclaimed, it is hard to pick out another Tottenham loser from Sunday's abysmal showing. Most of them were just that bad.

Manager Pochettino could do little about the performance on the day. But after steering them back on track, he contributed somewhat to things falling apart again.

The half-time introductions of Tom Carroll and Josh Onomah instilled a little direction into Spurs' play. But then, while his decision to look for an equaliser at 2-1 down via the replacement of the injured Walker with Nacer Chadli had merit, the oversight not to reorganise his players to account for the speed and directness of Newcastle's attack on the break was beyond naive.

As the man in charge, Pochettino has to take some responsibility for the way his men have lost their way these last few weeks, too. The pride of their title challenge has given way to a full-blown sense of collapse with another dispiriting result.

You get the feeling the Argentinian—awarded a new contract this week after overseeing what has largely been a strong season—will do just that, too.

"First of all we apologise to our supporters," Pochettino told Tottenham's official Twitter post-match. "We played without intensity. The feeling is bad."

Winner: Rafael Benitez

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Despite a disappointing conclusion to Newcastle's season, the prospect of Rafael Benitez remaining in charge gives them some cause for optimism.

Beyond Wijnaldum and Townsend, you could pick out several Newcastle players for praise.

Karl Darlow was commanding in goal, his defence disciplined and decisive in their pouncing on the Tottenham attack. Mitrovic sadly sullied a fine afternoon leading the line with his sending-off, while the way Sissoko softly went down to win a penalty was an unfortunate mark on a display that contained some otherwise outstanding forward charges.

But the man of the day was the boss, Rafael Benitez.

Although unable to stave off relegation, here he oversaw another effort that suggests Newcastle's Premier League status might now still be intact if he had been brought in sooner than March.

The St. James' Park faithful certainly believe in the former Valencia, Liverpool and Real Madrid manager being the right man for the job. They sung his name throughout, convinced he is the coach to lead them back to the Premier League within a year.

There could be drama ahead, this being Newcastle and all. But Benitez's indication he is inclined to stay, per BBC Sport, and the improvement he has brought to the club since arriving, suggests these two could be made for each other.