Tottenham Hotspur dropped out of fourth place after suffering a four-goal defeat at Newcastle United.
Tottenham Hotspur suffered a heavy 0-4 away defeat to Newcastle United in the 33rd round of the 2023-24 English Premier League at St. James’ Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on Wednesday (Jan. 13).
The loss dropped Tottenham from fourth to fifth in the standings. While Spurs remain on 60 points (18 W, 6 D, 8 L), level on points, Aston Villa has moved into fourth place, ahead of Spurs on goal differential (Villa +17, Spurs +16). This is due to Spurs’ four-goal deficit. Newcastle also leapfrogged into sixth place as they increased their points to 50 (W15 D5 L12).
Tottenham captain Son Heung-min started up front on the day, but had a disappointing day as he lost possession of the ball on two occasions that led to goals and was eventually replaced by Dejan Kulusevski in the 13th minute of the second half.
The visitors, coached by Anzhi Postecoglou, lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Guglielmo Vicario was in goal, while Destiny Udogie, Micky Vander Penne, Christian Romero and Pedro Foro formed the back four. Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur anchored the back three, while Timo Werner, James Maddison, and Brennan Johnson formed the back two. Son Heung-min was named up front.
Newcastle, managed by Eddie Howe, lined up in a 4-3-3 for the visitors. Martin Dubravka wore the goalkeeping gloves, while Dan Byrne, Fabian Scherer, Emile Kraft, and Jacob Murphy formed the back four. Elliott Anderson, Bruno Guimarães, and Sean Longstaff in midfield, with Anthony Gordon, Aleksander Isaac, and Harvey Barnes up front in front of the Spurs goal.
In the seventh minute, Tottenham striker Werner missed a crucial chance to open the scoring. Johnson broke through on the right flank and sent in a cross. Johnson’s cross found Werner just inside the penalty box, but he couldn’t get his shot on target, sending the ball into the air.
Newcastle also wasted a good scoring chance in the ninth minute. From the right flank, Gordon sent a pinpoint cross into the box for Barnes, who was charging into the box. Barnes took one touch on the ball and looked to take a shot, but Foro cleared the ball away before Barnes could get a shot off.
In the 16th minute of the first half, Son Heung-min made a beautiful pass. Heung-min was in front of the box and delivered a precise out-front pass to Werner on the left side of the penalty area. Werner collected the ball, folded once and fired a shot toward the near post that inadvertently beat Son, who was offside, to give Newcastle possession.
A minute later, Maddison got into the box and played a cut-back pass to Werner near the line, but the Spaniard’s left-footed effort was just wide of the post.
With Tottenham unable to capitalize on their chances, Newcastle broke the deadlock in the 30th minute. A misplaced pass by Son Heung-min gave Newcastle possession, allowing Guimarães to play a long ball forward. Gordon, who won the ball, then won a tussle with Udogie before playing a penetrating pass to Isaac.
With the ball in his grasp, Isaac stepped into the box and beat Vanderpene, who was right in front of him. With the perfect scoring opportunity, Isaac didn’t have to work hard to rattle the Tottenham net to take the lead.
Just three minutes after opening the scoring, Newcastle added another goal to extend their lead. It was Gordon, who had assisted Isaac’s goal.
The goal was the result of a Tottenham mistake. An inaccurate backpass from Foro in the Tottenham zone was intercepted by Gordon in the middle of the box. Once again, Vander Penn tried to make the save, but Gordon was able to beat Vander Penn and slot the ball into the Spurs net.
The two goals in quick succession brought back memories of Spurs’ nightmare from a year ago. On April 23, 2023, Spurs suffered a devastating 1-6 away defeat in the Round of 32 against Newcastle.
Led by acting coach Christian Stellini after the sacking of then-manager Antonio Conte, Spurs fell apart early, conceding three goals in less than 10 minutes of the first half. Two more goals followed, leaving them 0-5 at halftime. Harry Kane, who now plays for Bayern Munich, pulled one back in the fourth minute of the second half, but they conceded two more goals to fall behind by five goals.
The Newcastle attack was unstoppable as they once again made Tottenham shudder at home. In the 37th minute, Newcastle went straight on the counter-attack 카지노 after Vicario’s pass was intercepted. Isaac, the goal-scorer, had a chance right in front of goal, but the Tottenham defense quickly recovered to prevent another goal.
Isaac continued to threaten the Tottenham goal in the 40th minute when Barnes, on the left flank, sent a pinpoint cross to Isaac, who was charging into the center of the penalty box. Isaac got a touch, but Tottenham goalkeeper Vicario was quickly out of his goal to clear the ball before Isaac could get a shot off.
In the 42nd minute, Maddison attempted a mid-range shot from outside the box that was headed straight at the keeper, but Dubravka made the save. Maddison’s shot gave Tottenham their first shot on goal of the day.
Two minutes of first-half stoppage time were awarded, but Spurs were unable to find the equalizer and the score remained 0-2 at halftime. In the first 45 minutes, Spurs dominated possession with 67% of the ball, but were outshot 5 to 10. They also struggled to contain Newcastle’s set piece attack, conceding 10 corners while earning one.
Newcastle continued to attack in the second half. In the third minute of the second half, Newcastle center back Cher dropped the ball in front of the Tottenham goal and Isaac got a foot on it to redirect it towards goal. Foro stretched out his leg to block Isaac’s shot, but he was later substituted for Emerson Royal with a muscle injury.
Six minutes into the second half, Newcastle added one more goal to seal the victory. Newcastle’s third goal was scored by Isaac, who had opened the scoring.
Tottenham’s third goal came from Son Heung-min. Guimarães stole the ball away from Son and played a long pass forward, where Isaac was quick to beat Vander Penne, cut into the box, and rattled the net with a left-footed shot to complete his multi-goal day.
Isaac and the Tottenham players looked to the assistant referee to check for offside, but it was determined that Isaac’s position was inside the center line as the Guimarães passed, and Newcastle’s third goal stood.
With the score at 0-3, Tottenham made a game-changing move, using three substitutions at once. In the 13th minute of the second half, they took off Bissouma and Bentancur for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Pape Sarr. They also took off Son Heung-min for Kulusevski.
Heung-min Son, who had 15 goals and nine assists heading into the match, was looking to reach double figures in assists for the third time in his career with a single assist, but he had a disappointing day as he was involved in two of Tottenham’s three goals.
In the 16th minute of the second half, Spurs pushed hard for an equalizer. Johnson unleashed a bold mid-range effort from the edge of the box, but his effort was overpowered and sailed into the stands.
Newcastle nearly scored a fourth goal in the 17th minute of the second half when they created a good attacking sequence. Midfielder Anderson beat one defender on the left side of the penalty area and fired a shot toward the near post that was saved by Vicario.
The goal in the 35th minute saved Spurs. On Newcastle’s 15th corner, a ball cleared out of the box by the Tottenham defense was met by substitute Tino Livramento with a volley, but the ball bounced off the post and out of play.
After Libramento’s shot hit the post, Tottenham made their final substitution, pulling Maddison and bringing on Giovani Rosselso.
In the 41st minute of the second half, Gordon went for a hat-trick, but Vander Penne was there to defend. After a penetrating pass from Barnes, Gordon took a shot from inside the box, but Vander Penn was quick to get to him and block the shot with his legs.
However, Vander Penne’s good defense was not enough as Tottenham conceded another goal from the ensuing corner. Gordon took the corner kick himself and sent in a cross that Shearer battled through traffic to head home for his fourth goal of the season.
Shea’s goal gave Gordon a goal and two assists on the day, and Newcastle, who earned 16 corners on the day, finally found the back of the net from a set piece.
After Newcastle’s goal, Tottenham lost the will to chase. Despite five minutes of second-half stoppage time, Spurs were unable to find the winner and dropped out of fourth place with a 0-4 loss at Newcastle.