Opening their 2018 /2019 Premier League season, with a fixture against Tottenham Hotspur was always going to be a difficult task.
But, it’s fair to say that Newcastle gave a good account of themselves.
The game started at a frantic pace and it was to be Tottenham who were to take the lead when in the 8th minute Jan Vertonghen saw his header cross the line. However, whilst Newcastle thought they’d cleared the ball off the line, goal-line technology indicated to the referee the ball had crossed the line, by the narrowest of margins a mere 9mm.
But, Newcastle were to fight back in fine style, less than three minutes later they were level when a superb cross, into the box, was headed home by Joselu.
Unfortunately, Newcastle couldn’t keep things level for long and seven minutes later Tottenham regained the lead when, in acres of space, Dele Alli was on hand to head home.
Emerging for the second half, 2-1 down, Newcastle put up a spirited performance in trying to get back on level terms.
Kenedy, who had an impressive game, was presented with a marvellous opportunity to score but a poor first touch saw Hugo Lloris come to the rescue for Tottenham.
But, pushing forward left Newcastle open to the counter-attack and Tottenham could have increased their lead with Alli missing a decent chance from close range.
Searching for the equaliser, the St James Park crowd saw Mohamed Diame produce a wonderful shot that cannoned back off the post and when Salomon Rondon was introduced, he saw his header come back to safety off the bar.
An opening day defeat, but we remain optimistic that we can get something from our next Premier League fixture which is away to Cardiff City next weekend.
St James Park
Premier League
11/08/2018 4:00 pm
Attendance: 51749
Referee: Martin Atkinson
| Newcastle United | Tottenham Hotspur | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joselu (11) | Vertonghen (8), Alli (18) | ||||||
| Dubravka | Lloris | ||||||
| Yedlin | 93 | Aurier | |||||
| Lascelles | D Sánchez | ||||||
| Clark | Vertonghen | ||||||
| Dummett | Davies | ||||||
| Ritchie | 69 | Sissoko | |||||
| Shelvey | Dier | 88 | |||||
| Diame | Lucas Moura | 68 | |||||
| Kenedy | Eriksen | ||||||
| Pérez | 81 | Kane | |||||
| Joselu | 59 | Alli | 80 | ||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Ki Sung-yueng | Alderweireld | ||||||
| Schär | Son Heung-Min | 80 | |||||
| Rondón | 59 | Vorm | |||||
| Muto | 81 | Walker-Peters | |||||
| Manquillo | Llorente | ||||||
| Darlow | Dembélé | 68 | |||||
| Atsu | 69 | Amos | 88 | ||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 15 | Goal attempts | 15 |
| 2 | On Target | 5 |
| 3 | Corners | 5 |
| 11 | Fouls | 12 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 40 | % | 60 |