NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 – 0 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Speed, 9

Cordone, 66

Attendance:- 51,573

Referee:- David Elleray

Newcastle (4-4-2):-Given; Barton, Hughes, Goma, Domi; Solano, Dyer, Speed, Glass (sub Griffin, 74); Cordone (sub Coppinger, 78), Shearer (Capt.)

Subs not used:- Harper(GK); Charvet, Gavilan No bookings

Spurs:- (4-4-2):- Sullivan; Carr, Perry, Campbell (Capt.), Thatcher (sub Taricco, 70); Anderton, Sherwood, Freund, Leonhardsen (sub Young, 70); Rebrov, Iversen (sub Ferdinand, 40)

Subs not used:- Walker; Clemence No bookings

It was a marvellous experience to be in the expanded St James Park, but the Toon army do not make much noise at home, despite the size of the crowd. The biggest cheers were reserved for the entrance of Les Ferdinand, who is clearly still loved up there, the goals of course, and a frenetic 90 seconds in the second half where chances fell to both sides.

Spurs, and in particular Thatcher, were cruelly exposed by the pace and guile of Solano, Dyer, Speed and Cordone, each of whom had a go at Spurs weak left flank. Leonhardsen didn’t seem to be helping much, and (I quote a fair-minded Newcastle fan) “I’ve rarely seen such a poor performance from an opponent”. This was said of Thatcher. Amongst his embarrassing moments was a foul throw, through simple mis-handling, and a number of inaccurate passes, together with a tendency to put himself under undue pressure through the length of time it took him to clear the ball. In fairness, Perry also had a bit of a mare today, whilst Sol looked more comfortable. Shearer and Cordone swapped sides, and Cordone really enjoyed the freedom to work just behind Shearer. He did all the things we hope for from Rebrov, but Sergei was pretty quiet.

It took a while for the game to get going, as both sides were defending high. Barton got an early warning from Elleray for a foul on Rebrov, but there were to be no cards today. Iversen had an early chance, having won a throw deep in Newcastle territory, and then from an Anderton cross, got a glancing touch to the ball that went wide of the mark. Within two minutes, we were down, as Speed (looking suspiciously offside to me) ran with ease on to a long ball from Hughes, and was allowed to chip Sullivan unchallenged. I thought Sullivan had at least got a touch to the ball, but replays don’t back me up. Barton (as has happened so often in the past) plagued us with more long balls, and sadly they generally found his colleagues, as Spurs defensive midfield, and back four were so slow off the mark. Bobby Robson was allegedly down to the bare bones of his squad today, but he’s a canny guy, and certainly found the frailties in Spurs. He could be seen observing the warm-up carefully, and studying the greasy pitch, and he got 110% out of his side. On the other hand, George Graham seemed to have approved of trying to play the offside game. This is dangerous against such pace. George was quoted after the game as saying “I don’t think we should have played offside so early on. If we are going to play offside, then we should catch the other side at least 5 yards off.” All I can say is if it wasn’t his idea in the first place - whose was it?

Speed could have increased the lead so quickly, as Cordone turned a Barton long ball into a deep cross from the right. Speed was unmarked with time to spare but pulled his shot wide of the post. Anderton nearly equalised with a speculative cross/shot from deep, which deceived Given and rattled the wood work, but then Spurs were on the back foot again. On the half-hour, a mix up in defence gave Shearer space to chip over Sullivan, but fortunately Sol Campbell had made it back to head clear off the line.

At last Stephen Carr threatened and got into the box yet again in a similar position to that from which he scored in the opening game. This time his pass back reached Leo on the far post with time on his hands, but he wasted the effort. Ferdinand replaced Iversen before the break, presumably due to a knock received in a challenge with Goma.

The pattern resumed in the second half. Steffen Freund (so often being left to do the defensive duties without support) won a struggle to put the ball to Anderton, but Anderton gave the ball away. Shearer was making a beeline for goal, and Perry seemed to have baulked him unfairly (this from a Spurs fan!), but Mr Elleray waved away the appeals from the Toon army.

Then came that mad 90 seconds. Spurs did have a brief period of pressure, and Anderton made a deep cross from the right, that was returned to the danger zone by Thatcher. Both Leonhardsen and Freund (Yes - one was on target!) had shots cleared off the line, before the play quickly went to the other end, where Cordone had a chance from a tight angle, but hit harmlessly across the goal. One of the Newcastle players had a bold attempt at an overhead kick, to no avail.

Shearer nearly scored that elusive 200^th league goal, after Perry brought Cordone down on the edge of the box, and the skipper’s free kick whistled past the post. Cordone then rounded Sol with too much ease, and Dyer took the ball off him to try a shot, which Sullivan saved well. Spurs succumbed to the pressure on 66 minutes, after Cordone converted Solano’s run and good work from close range, despite Sullivan’s brave efforts to withhold the tide.

Freund had a second attempt at goal, from a Thatcher pass, but this one was wide. Some relief was provide to the beleaguered Spurs defence, when Thatcher and Leonhardsen were replaced by Taricco and Young, and Spurs reverted to a back three with Carr and Taricco playing as wing-backs. Luke Young managed to get forward as well, but it was all too late. Les Ferdinand did have a good headed chance from a Carr cross, which he headed into the ground, and the ball bounced safely over the net. Sherwood nearly got on the end of a Young cross. Sol Campbell got forward and after an exchange with Taricco, hit a left foot shot onto the top of the net from 20 yards.

However at the other end, even new boy Coppinger got into the act, after he picked up a poor back pass from Anderton to Sol Campbell, leading to another sot from Dyer and more good work from Sullivan.

So ended another poor trip to the north-east, and Spurs slipped from 2^nd to 10^th in the early season table.