Tottenham struggles at home continue as Newcastle claim vital win

Newcastle United's Jacob Ramsey celebrates scoring their second goal

It’s now eight league games without a win for Tottenham Hotspur, who slumped to a 2-1 home defeat against Newcastle United to heap even more pressure on boss Thomas Frank.

Having both suffered disappointing defeats at the weekend, there was immense pressure on both Spurs and Newcastle to respond here.

It was Eddie Howe’s Magpies who looked to have dealt with the disappointment the better, flying out of the traps and coming within a whisker of taking an early lead when Joe Willock’s effort from the edge of the area flushed just wide.

Frustration was ramping up amongst the home supporters at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and just as it was becoming audible, Harvey Barnes’ deft flick which was well gathered by Guglielmo Vicario was a warning sign that Newcastle weren’t going to let up.

With HT approaching, the Magpies finally looked to have forged ahead, when Joe Willock broke in behind the Spurs defence, stepped inside and bent a sumptuous curling effort into the far corner – but to his dismay, a VAR check called the narrowest of offsides in the build up and cut short his celebrations.

However, that proved to be nothing more than a temporary reprieve for Spurs, who fell behind with almost the last kick of the half, when Malick Thiaw’s initial header was well saved by Vicario, only for the towering defender to react quickest and power home the rebound.

Spurs finally hit their stride in the second half, coming close on two occasions within 10 minutes of the restart.

Pape Matar Sarr was first to try his luck when his strike from distance forced a smart stop out of Nick Pope, before substitute Mathys Tel blazed over from inside the area after Archie Gray found him unmarked. Creator turned scorer shortly after the hour mark when Gray reacted quickest inside the area to slam home a loose ball and swing the pendulum firmly in Tottenham’s favour.

Match stats

But their home ground curse struck again soon after that leveller, as Anthony Gordon jinked into the area and picked out the unmarked Jacob Ramsey to sweep home from 12 yards.

Spurs put their foot to the floor in the closing stages in search of finding a late leveller, but a distinct lack of quality in the final third proved costly for them, as they saw their winless domestic home run stretch to six matches.

It was a timely victory for Newcastle, as it ended their three-match losing run and thrust them back into the top half.