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News Report: Newcastle’s Epic Shut Down of Jamie Carragher Leaves Fuming Spurs in Shock After ‘Lack of Respect
On the touchline, there was no sign of the troubled Cristian Stellini. Those who had long ago moved on were Hugo Lloris, Eric Dier, Davinson Sanchez, Ivan Perisic, and the unculpable Harry Kane.
Spurs even avoided falling behind 5-0 in the middle of the first half. The Londoners at St. James’ Park, however, knew all too well this narrative, as Newcastle United supporters yelled, “Tottenham Hotspur – it’s happened again!” This time, the score was not nearly 6-1, but the 4-0 victory was nonetheless rather remarkable in certain aspects.
Unstoppable Newcastle just allowed two rather insignificant attempts on goal from the visitors while scoring four goals from five shots on goal. This season, few teams will be able to defeat Ange Postecoglou’s squad in that manner, much less without 11 senior players.
Newcastle ‘changed things somewhat’ and regularly damaged Spurs on the counter after it was evident that they had learned their lesson from the brutal 4-1 loss in the rematch. Anthony Gordon was the first to acknowledge that Spurs’ superior ball control made it impossible for Newcastle to play their “normal way.”
As a result, the Magpies adopted a 3-4-3 man-against-man formation, stopped pressing constantly, and, in the words of teammate goal scorer Alexander Isak, went man-for-man. It was profitable. Dan Burn stated on NUFC TV: “It took them a little by surprise. We took advantage of the fact that they most likely didn’t anticipate our course of action.”
James Maddison described it as a “horrible day,” and Spurs’ frustrations were evident in the closing moments of the game, which stood in stark contrast to their first meeting in the capital when Spurs controlled possession (73%).
In the latter moments of that December loss, Callum Wilson confronted Guglielmo Vicario angrily after the Spurs goalkeeper’made faces’ and demonstrated a ‘lack of respect’. Bruno Guimaraes raised four fingers to indicate how many goals Newcastle had scored, and this time it was Spurs substitute Giovani Lo Celso who was shown the red card.
It felt a lot like last season, when the Magpies repeatedly got under the skin of the Premier League’s established order on their way to gatecrashing the top four. In his programme notes, injured captain Jamaal Lascelles wrote that Newcastle ‘owed them one because of what happened down at their place.”
Barring a massive swing in results, there may not be Champions League football to play for this time around, but Jamie Carragher’s claim last month that Newcastle ‘looked like a team almost ready for the end of the season’ proved premature as the black-and-whites went on to win 10 of their possible 12 points.
After seeing his team advance to sixth place, Howe told reporters, “It was important we showed that the season wasn’t over from our perspective.” “As I usually say, no Newcastle United game is unimportant. For a friendly or preseason game, I say that. There was never a prospect that we would stop since Premier League games are enormous events in which we must demonstrate the significance of every minute to everyone.”
Given the amount of absences injury-ravaged Newcastle has had to deal with and the fact that Howe was forced to make two new changes on Saturday, that response has been all the more remarkable. Joe Willock, who went off against Fulham with an Achilles problem, was replaced by Elliot Anderson, while Lewis Hall, who could only muster a bench spot after missing this week’s training because of a tight quad, was replaced by Harvey Barnes.
It is easy to forget that Spurs put Newcastle’s patched-up defense to the test soon. Brennan Johnson found the unmarked Timo Werner in the box with just seven minutes remaining, but the forward could only volley over. It turned out to be a costly error in a game where Newcastle took their chance.
Consider Newcastle’s opportunity, which resulted from Bruno Guimaraes intercepting Son Heung-min’s attempted flick right on the edge of his own box. With a quick glance up, the Brazil international sent the ball to Anthony Gordon on the halfway line.
Though Destiny Udogie succeeded in winning it back, Gordon’s relentless play soon forced the Spurs defender off the ball and allowed Isak to score. Micky van de Ven could only collapse to the ground when the club’s record signing took a touch and cut inside him before coolly picking out the bottom corner in signature style.
But you still felt that the next goal was vital, and Newcastle scored it right after the break. Similar to the first goal, Bruno received the ball in his own defensive third, lofted it over the Spurs high line, and sent Isak streaking clear. Vicario backpedaled, giving Isak plenty of time to overthink things, but the team’s top scorer was never going to miss in this kind of form and slotted home once more.
Newcastle did not let up, even leading 3-0. Gordon’s free kick was missed by Isak in the 57th minute; midway through the second half, Vicario blocked an attempt by the excellent Elliot Anderson at the near post; and Emil Krafth even struck the upright on the volley late in the game.
