With a fantastic victory at Tottenham, Newcastle United maintained their stellar start to the season. They moved up to fourth place in the Premier League standings.
Newcastle went ahead in contentious circumstances, Callum Wilson finding the net with an excellent lob from outside the box after colliding with Hugo Lloris.
The second goal before halftime wasn’t controversial, but it was given after a protracted video assistance referee (VAR) checked for a foul and handball.
Sean Longstaff intercepted a poor clearance by Lloris before Miguel Almiron beat one defender, raced around another, and blasted under the Spurs goalie for his fifth league goal in five games.
Harry Kane’s close-range low header gave Spurs a goal back after a lengthy VAR review for offside. Still, Newcastle managed to hold on to earn the victory.
Newcastle hasn’t been in the top four of the table, with 12 games played since April 2012.
Spurs got off to a good start as Son Heung-min and Harry Kane were denied by the host team’s goalkeeper Nick Pope.
A big result at the 🔝 of the table @Oracle |#TOTNEW | @NUFC pic.twitter.com/x5atjcCWqz
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 23, 2022
Challenging times for the Spurs
Tottenham is still third in the standings, but manager Antonio Conte will be uneasy following his team’s second loss in a week.
Wednesday’s 2-0 loss against Manchester United was a squandered chance to demonstrate the team’s potential under the Italian.
They had a strong start on Sunday before losing steam. Their remarkable 10-match winning streak at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ended following a lacklustre showing.
The home team’s locker room will be upset as Newcastle’s opening goal was upheld despite Rodrigo Bentancur receiving a booking for fighting with the official.
Spurs lost at home for the first time since April 16 despite Kane cutting the deficit; they failed to put Pope to the test.
Now that the Champions League is focused, Conte will call for a better showing on Wednesday against Sporting Lisbon.
Conte laments the quality of the Spurs squad after the Newcastle squad
Once more, Spurs manager Conte appeared to insinuate that his team isn’t strong enough to compete on several levels.
“We had plenty of scoring opportunities before the situation (first goal),” Conte told Sky Sports. “Perhaps we could score if we finished shots better.”
“Then this incident occurred, and I don’t want to comment on the referee’s choice. I’m not going to comment. Not good at all. Due to a long ball, we let up a goal.”
“Newcastle’s first goal came at the perfect time, in our opinion. They used a counter-attack to score their second goal. Then, returning was challenging.”
🗣 “When we conceded the confidence went down”
The boss gives his verdict after #TOTNEW ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/sFT02w1WXd
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 23, 2022
“We tried. We managed to score one. We did not perform well enough. We always strive to do our best. The level of commitment today was quite remarkable. We have to deal with a challenging scenario.”
“You’re in trouble if your squad is without three or four players. We need to handle this problem expertly and work together to conquer it.”
“You need a deep, strong group when you play every three days. Our procedure has just gotten underway. In the Champions League, we compete.”
“We’re making incremental improvements to our condition. You must have patience and time. I intend to be sincere. We are doing well, in my opinion, but we still need time and persistence.”
Eddie Howe: It was a big win
At the Tottenham Hotspur stadium this afternoon, Newcastle defeated fellow top-four contenders Spurs to continue their superb run of play.
Howe told Sky Sports, “It was a big win. We came here intending to be optimistic—excellent performance from us. We earned the victory.”
“All the credit for how we approach the game belongs to my guys. We did a great job of following the strategy. They had world-class players, so it wasn’t without issues.”
“They had a few long shots and dangerous counter-attacks early on. We were fine after we figured it out.”
🗣️ "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳."
Eddie Howe was full of pride after Newcastle's win over Tottenham 👏 #NUFC | #TOTNEW pic.twitter.com/x2OwIakZYo
— The Chronicle (@ChronicleNUFC) October 23, 2022