Newcastle vs. Tottenham: Score, Grades, Reaction from Premier League
Harry Kane reached 30 goals in all competitions as Tottenham piled on Newcastle's misery with a 3-1 victory on Saturday at St James' Park.
Nacer Chadli broke the deadlock for Tottenham with a bouncing strike from outside the box in the 30th minute, but Jack Colback pulled the hosts level in the opening moments of the second half. Christian Eriksen then netted the winner direct from a free-kick after the ball bounced in Newcastle's box and evaded goalkeeper Tim Krul.
With Newcastle searching for a late equaliser, Kane added Spurs' third on the break in stoppage time. The goal was Kane's 20th league strike of the season, joint most in the Premier League alongside Sergio Aguero, and 30th in all competitions.
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The stands at St James' Park featured many empty seats as some Newcastle supporters boycotted the match to protest the club's ownership by Mike Ashley. Apart from a few fleeting moments, the home fans will not have been happy with what they saw on the pitch, as The Times' George Caulkin noted on Twitter:
This latest defeat, Newcastle's sixth straight, left the Magpies in 14th place on 35 points. With five games left, manager John Carver and his men are not quite out of relegation trouble, as only seven points currently separate them from the drop zone.
The Magpies will have another chance to end their losing streak next Saturday, when Swansea visit St James' Park.
For Tottenham, the win meant a top-four push remains alive for at least another week. With the three points, Mauricio Pochettino's side moved up to sixth place on 57 points, level with Liverpool, who have played one game fewer.
With just five games left and seven points separating them from fourth-placed Manchester City, Spurs will have a tough task to finish in the top four. But Champions League football remains a possibility, and Tottenham will be looking for another victory next Saturday, when they visit Southampton.
Clear chances were scarce early as both teams made a decent start to the match. The first shot on target came in the 14th minute, when Newcastle's Ayoze Perez forced a save from Michel Vorm with an effort from the centre of the box.
Tottenham had a sight of goal five minutes later as Nabil Bentaleb fired high and wide of the target.
Newcastle's Remy Cabella hit a weak one on target in the 20th minute, and Eriksen fired a low free-kick straight at Krul one minute later.
Tottenham broke the deadlock out of nothing in the 30th minute thanks to a superb, long-range effort from Chadli. After accepting a pass in midfield, the Belgian dribbled onto his left foot and uncorked a fierce, dipping shot from outside the box. Krul, perhaps unsighted by a defender, could only flap as the ball bounced past him and into the net for a 1-0 Spurs lead.
Perez carved out a chance for Newcastle in the 39th minute, dancing past Eric Dier before curling a high shot too close to Vorm, who saved comfortably. At the other end five minutes later, Krul batted away Harry Kane's drive from a tight angle on the left.
The score remained the same until half-time, but the home side needed less than 20 seconds to find the equaliser after the break. Within moments of kick-off, Daryl Janmaat won possession for Newcastle along the touchline on the right. The Dutchman slipped the ball to Perez, who cut inside and laid off for Janmaat, who had continued his run.
Janmaat's shot was blocked, but the ball rebounded to Colback, who tucked in a first-time finish at the near post to make it 1-1 with almost the entire second half left to play.
Tottenham quickly retook the lead in the 53rd minute as Eriksen curled a free-kick into the box from the left flank. The ball evaded every Spurs attacker but bounced in front of Krul, who could only touch it on its way into the net at the far post.
The goal had a hint of offside to it, with replays showing multiple Tottenham players in a position past the last defender at the time Eriksen hit his free-kick. Nabil Bentaleb came close to heading the ball before it bounced. But replays were inconclusive, and the goal stood.
Leading 2-1, Tottenham came close again in the 55th minute, when Bentaleb headed Chadli's cross narrowly over the bar.
Spurs were well on top, and another chance followed in the 67th minute. Paulinho curled in a corner from the right, and Harry Kane met it with a powerful, acrobatic volley. The ball seemed destined for the goal, but Krul made a good reaction save to keep it out.
Krul made another good save on Erik Lamela in the 75th minute then held Kane's long-distance strike two minutes later. As Spurs kept attacking, Federico Fazio sent a deflected header off target six minutes from time.
As full-time approached, Newcastle committed more men to the attack as they searched for an equaliser. But in the first minute of stoppage time, Tottenham made them pay with a lethal counter.
Lamela led a three-on-one attack, passing to Kane on the left. Holding his nerve, Kane finished intelligently past Krul for the match-sealing goal.
Grades
| Tim Krul | 6.5 |
| Daryl Janmaat | 7.3 |
| Mike Williamson | 7.4 |
| Fabricio Coloccini | 7.2 |
| Vurnon Anita | 6.5 |
| Mehdi Abeid | 6.4 |
| Ryan Taylor | 7.0 |
| Jack Colback | 6.9 |
| Yoan Gouffran | 6.5 |
| Ayoze Perez | 6.6 |
| Remy Cabella | 7.9 |
| Gabriel Obertan (for Abeid, 45') | 6.3 |
| Sammy Ameobi (for Gouffran, 45') | 6.2 |
| Adam Armstrong (for Anita, 75') | No rating |
| Michel Vorm | 6.9 |
| Eric Dier | 6.8 |
| Federico Fazio | 7.1 |
| Jan Vertonghen | 7.8 |
| Danny Rose | 6.6 |
| Paulinho | 7.3 |
| Nabil Bentaleb | 7.4 |
| Erik Lamela | 7.3 |
| Christian Eriksen | 7.4 |
| Nacer Chadli | 7.9 |
| Harry Kane | 7.9 |
| Mousa Dembele (for Nacer Chadli, 78') | No rating |
| Ben Davies (for Rose, 82') | No rating |
| Ryan Mason (for Paulinho, 88') | No rating |
Reaction
Tottenham goalscorer Harry Kane, per BBC Sport:
"We deserved it today. We played well. We've had some disappointing performances in the last couple of weeks and we wanted to put that right.
I had a couple of chances and the keeper made some good saves but I'm delighted to get back on the scoresheet."
…
I'm very proud (of being the first Spurs player to reach 30 goals in all competitions in a season since Gary Lineker) but there are five games left and, hopefully, I'll get a few more goals.
"
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, per BBC Sport:
"Our performance was good. We deserved then win as we were better than Newcastle.
We need to be happy today. We are recovering our good feeling. It is important because we are in a position where we can fight for something until the end of the season.
I got angry after we conceded a goal. We made big mistakes but after that the team reacted very well. Maybe it was good we conceded a goal early. It's very important to finish the season on a good level and then we have to analyse.
"
Follow @MiguelCominguez
