Tottenham Spank Newcastle United 4-1
Tottenham ended their recent slump in emphatic style as they convincingly overpowered a leg-weary Newcastle United.
Spurs had lost four of their previous five games and had not won since the victory at Crystal Palace on 27 October, but, once Destiny Udogie put them ahead from Son Heung-min’s pass, there was only one winner.
And it was day of joy for striker Richarlison, who has struggled to find consistency and momentum in his Spurs career but was the spearhead here with a goal either side of half-time as Newcastle wilted in the face of some scintillating attacking play from Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Richarlison had scored only five goals in his previous 48 appearances for Spurs but was on the mark from Son’s perfect delivery, then effectively sealed all three points after controlling Pedro Porro’s long pass.
Son got the goal his performance deserved, scoring from the spot after he had been hauled down by Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka.
Joelinton’s late strike provided a late consolation for Newcastle, who threatened only sporadically, with Miguel Almiron failing to convert a great chance when they trailed by a goal.
However, a heavy programme is taking its toll on manager Eddie Howe’s injury-hit squad and now they must regroup and re-energise quickly before Wednesday night’s decisive final Champions League group game at home to AC Milan.
Spurs have been stuttering recently after an outstanding start under Postecoglou, not helped by a succession of injuries, particularly to key new signings James Maddison and Micky van de Ven, but the battling draw at Manchester City demonstrated the new-found spirit and here the attacking quality was back.
Richarlison will rightly claim much of the acclaim for his two goals and the Spurs fans showed their delight for the Brazil striker, who is admired for his sheer effort despite a mixed career at the club so far. The goals that came with Richarlison’s endeavour were a deserved reward.
He will have his confidence lifted by two goals but, as so often, Son was at the heart of most of Spurs’ good work, creating the first two goals, making it another miserable experience for Kieran Trippier after his nightmare in the 3-0 defeat at Everton on Thursday, then scoring a penalty for the fourth.
As they have done so far this season, Spurs supporters revelled in the all-out attacking approach under Postecoglou which could have yielded more goals, but this was a result and performance designed to blow away the cobwebs of three successive home defeats.
The Spurs fans seem more than happy to accept there may be bumps in the road playing in this fashion while warmly embracing Postecoglou’s positive intent.