Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham – Match Report: Isak laughed last

Newcastle United somehow won their second game of the season on Sunday, September 1, thanks to a 2-1 result over Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park.

Alexander Isak’s late goal proved decisive in a match that saw the Magpies withstand heavy pressure from the visitors and utter domination by the Spurs as the game approached its climax.

The win marks Newcastle’s second consecutive home victory of the season—something that had not happened since 2000-01 at the start of a NUFC campaign— maintaining their unbeaten record and lifting them to fifth in the Premier League standings, as impossible as that sounds.

The game began with Newcastle on the front foot, and they took the lead in the 37th minute through Harvey Barnes. The winger connected with a cross from Lloyd Kelly, volleying the ball into the net. Barnes’ performance was a key factor once more as he’s clearly becoming one of the best additions to Newcastle’s roster since the PIF takeover.

Tottenham grew into the match, however, dominating possession in the second half and limiting Newcastle to doing pretty much nothing.

The Spurs pressure paid off in the 56th minute when a James Maddison shot was parried by Nick Pope into the path of Brennan Johnson. Dan Burn’s attempted clearance resulted in the ball being turned into his own net, leveling the score at 1-1. Yikes.

Tottenham continued to push for a winner and Newcastle found themselves increasingly on the back foot. Eddie Howe made a series of substitutions to stabilize the team, including the introduction of Sandro Tonali, who made his Premier League return following a 10-month suspension for betting breaches after he started last midweek clash at Nott Forest.

The breakthrough for Newcastle came in the 78th minute on a swift counterattack. Joelinton started it with a ridiculous pass to the space and into the Spurs’ own half that found substitute Jacob Murphy as he rushed forward. Murphy squared the ball across the box to Isak, who had the simplest of tasks to tap into an empty net, securing all three points for the Magpies.

Howe acknowledged the challenges his team faced but sounded satisfied by the ugly win entering the first break of the season.

“We found a way to win, even though it wasn’t our best performance,” Howe said. “This match showed that we can dig deep and get results even when we’re not at our best, and that’s something we can build on.”

With the international break now upon them, Newcastle sits level on points with the third- and fourth-placed teams through MD3 and only behind Man City and Liverpool—both won out their first three games.

Howe didn’t criticize the club’s futile efforts during the summer transfer window after the win over Spurs. He simply accepted the results and seems to be focused on working with what’s in tow.

“The closing of the window gives us some stability,” Howe said. “What this does do, hopefully, will give us confidence, give us the ability to see ourselves as a really good team, one that can get better and improve.”

The Magpies will be back on the pitch after the break on Sep. 15 when they’ll visit Wolves for MD4 of the Premier League season before another EFL Cup trip takes them to Wimbledon to face AFC two days after that.