Spurs have slipped closer to the Premier League’s relegation zone after another home defeat, 2-1 to Newcastle United, at a wet and miserable Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Eddie Howe’s side began brightly, frequently getting in behind the Tottenham defence on the right flank. Such was their territorial dominance that they won nine corners before the break, the most by any Premier League side in a first half this season.
Spurs’ recent injury problems worsened after half an hour when Wilson Odobert went down after a midfield challenge and had to be replaced by Mathys Tel. And just as it looked like the home side had survived another poor first half — after a Joe Willock goal was ruled offside by the narrowest of margins — Newcastle deservedly took the lead just before the half-time whistle, Malick Thiaw reacting quickest after his initial header had been saved by Guglielmo Vicario.
There was no immediate response after the break from Spurs either, but they did slowly grow into the second half and equalised via Archie Gray just after the hour mark. But parity was enjoyed for just a few minutes, Jacob Ramsey’s well-taken goal — his first for Newcastle — put the visitors back into the lead, one which they held fairly comfortably for the remainder of the game.
Jay Harris, Chris Waugh and Mark Carey analyse the key moments from the game.
What does this defeat mean for Thomas Frank?
Newcastle have underperformed this season, but they are still a difficult team to beat. It is the limp and uninspiring performance that should be the biggest cause of concern for Spurs.
In the opening 10 minutes, they created a couple of decent chances down the right wing by releasing Odobert and Conor Gallagher into the space behind Dan Burn.
Spurs failed to grasp those opportunities, though, and for the rest of the first half, they struggled to progress the ball in central areas. Newcastle trapped them and it was no surprise they took the lead through Thiaw. Spurs had been warned when Willock netted shortly before, but was ruled offside.
Spurs were poor at the beginning of the second half until the game opened up and became chaotic. They threatened on the counter but took the lead through Gray’s volley after a Xavi Simons corner. It has been a regular theme of this season that Spurs perform well in the second half. The games become transitional, and that comes with a lot of risk. Ramsey’s winner came from Gallagher losing the ball when Spurs were on the attack.
It is another damaging defeat for Thomas Frank and the divisions within the squad were on full display. Tel threw his hands up when Yves Bissouma passed the ball backwards to Radu Dragusin. Vicario went mad at his defence when Newcastle scored their second. Frank was a constant raging ball of energy on the touchline, screaming at every decision that went against his side. Pape Matar Sarr and Simons both being booked for simulation was another sign of the desperation within the ranks. The supporters groaned when Vicario flapped at a corner.
The worst part for Frank was the reaction from the crowd. They booed at half-time and full time and chanted the name of their former manager, Mauricio Pochettino. Spurs have an extended break until they face Arsenal on February 22. If there is a time to pull the trigger and bring in a replacement or an interim head coach, it would surely be now.
Jay Harris
How significant is this win for Howe?
Using Howe’s own (pre-match) word: “Massive.”
Given Newcastle are labouring through a run of seven away fixtures in eight across all competitions, the relief at recording a victory after five winless outings (and three straight Premier League defeats) was palpable.
Crucially, Newcastle also recorded only their third top-flight victory on the road this season. In fact, it was only their third away win in 16 Premier League games, stretching back to April. Following back-to-back defeats on Tyneside against Aston Villa and Brentford, claiming the three points that lifted them back into the top 10 felt critical.
What’s more, Newcastle have dropped a Premier League-high 19 points when leading. Once Spurs equalised, it appeared as if that unwanted record was going to be extended. To have shipped more points against a team as bad as Spurs, who have only won two home games all season, would have further dented confidence.
Instead, with Newcastle travelling roughly 9,300 cumulative miles during this brutal stretch of away fixtures — this was the fourth of those seven on the road — both Howe and the team required this fillip before going to Villa in the FA Cup on Saturday.
The travelling fans chanted “Eddie Howe’s black-and-white army” and, at least for now, the external noise may quieten, even if internally there is no genuine pressure on the head coach.
Chris Waugh
Why were Spurs so bad?
Spurs have switched between a 3-4-3 system and 4-2-3-1 formation over the last few weeks. Due to their mounting injury crisis and Cristian Romero’s suspension, Dragusin and Micky van de Ven started together at centre-back for the first time since September 2024.
They frequently recycled the ball before passing it to Sarr or Bissouma. The duo seemed incapable of playing progressive passes and finding Dominic Solanke or Simons in dangerous positions.
Djed Spence returned to the starting XI after missing two games with a calf injury and struggled. The England international had to cope with the dual threat of Anthony Elanga and Kieran Trippier. It is no surprise Newcastle’s opening goal came from a move down the right. Willock was afforded far too much space and time to swing a cross into the box.
This is the problem with Spurs. No matter what combination Frank tries, nothing seems to work. The only player who emerged with any real credit is Gray. He has performed impressively at right-back over the past couple of weeks while coming up against Bryan Mbeumo and Harvey Barnes. He drove Spurs forward at times and combined well with Gallagher, but they needed more help.
The most damning thing you can level at Spurs is that there does not appear to be any patterns to work the ball into a good area. Attacking fluency is good, but the movement of each player feels too ad hoc for their team-mates to know what action is coming next. When you have such unpredictability, it is difficult to build a coherent foothold in the game.
Jay Harris & Mark Carey
Why Newcastle utilising the right flank made sense
Sometimes it can be tricky to work out what a manager’s tactical instructions might be when their team takes to the field.
But within minutes of kick-off, it was crystal clear where Howe had asked his Newcastle players to target. Spence deputised at left-back for Tottenham once again, and winger Elanga was keen to ensure he had a difficult evening upon his return — making persistent runs on the right flank and having plenty of success with the support of the overlapping Trippier.
Newcastle had 46 per cent of their attacking touches down the right third of the pitch in the first half, which was the fourth-highest share in an opening 45 minutes for Howe’s side this season. With Simons failing to provide the requisite defensive cover for Spence, Newcastle continually had an overload on that side of the pitch in the first half — and it was little surprise that their opening goal came from the right flank.
After Bruno Guimaraes underlapped Elanga to get to the byline, the ball was eventually worked back to Willock, whose cross was eventually bundled in by Thiaw. With 13 open-play crosses being the joint-most that Newcastle have had in a first half, you could not say that the opening goal was not coming.
Mark Carey
Has Ramsey finally arrived as a Newcastle player?
At the 27th attempt, Ramsey finally has a goal involvement for Newcastle.
The 24-year-old joined from Aston Villa for £39million ($53.2m) in August, and he, like Elanga, has been criticised for failing to make an immediate impact. They were supposed to be ‘Premier League-ready’ additions, yet both have had their individual travails since moving to Tyneside.
Ramsey was hampered by an early ankle injury, which stunted his progress and integration into the team, but in recent weeks, the midfielder has visibly grown in confidence and influence. He is composed on the ball, wins possession well, and usually makes good decisions.
With the out-of-form Sandro Tonali omitted for only the second time in the last 15 matches, Ramsey and Willock provided energy and industry in midfield, with Guimaraes deployed as the No 6.
It was Ramsey’s precise and perfectly executed early ball through to Willock, which almost opened the scoring for Newcastle, but he was denied an assist by the narrowest of offside calls.
The summer signing was then influential during the build-up to his winner, playing it inside to Barnes, who laid the ball off to Gordon. Ramsey darted in from the left wing and into the area, where he finished brilliantly first time across Vicario.
Insiders have always been confident that Ramsey would prove to be an excellent signing for Newcastle. Belatedly, he is justifying that conviction.
Chris Waugh
What did Frank say?
“I understand the fans’ frustration,” Frank said in his post-match press conference when asked about the “sacked in the morning” chants. “We are in a position we don’t want to be in and we are working very hard day and night to change.
“I also think it is a situation now the club has been in, it’s fair to say, for almost two years and at the end of last season as well clearly a pattern that we struggle to manage Europe and the Premier League. It’s something me, the team, the club, the players we need to learn to do even better physically and mentally to deal with that.
“And part of that of course is the 11 injuries or 10 plus a suspension plus another one today which of course doesn’t help in a situation like that.”
Asked if he will be in charge for the Arsenal game, Frank added: “Yeah, I’m convinced I will be.”
Pushed whether he is convinced he is the right man for the job, he continued: “1,000 per cent sure. I am also 1,000 per cent sure that I never expected us to be in a situation like this with 11 or 12 injuries on the back end of this and what we’ve been facing, but I know when you need to build something and need to get through things, you need to show unbelievable strong resilience.
“I understand the mechanism in football, no doubt about that, but there are a lot of studies that it is not the right thing to do.
“We of course understand we’re not in a good situation, but with everything in life you need to stay calm, keep doing it and keep going.”
And on Odobert’s injury, he added: “I hope it’s nothing too serious, but I don’t know what it can be.”
What did Howe say?
Speaking to TNT Sport after the game, the Newcastle boss was delighted. “It was a good performance from us. Really strange game because I didn’t think we deserved to be level when we were. Tottenham scored against the run of play and then really big credit to the lads because the game could have gone away from us. But we responded really well and scored the second goal and thankfully defended the last few minutes really well.
“We’ve played really well. We’ve had a number of shots, a number of chances throughout the first half. We hadn’t scored but we dominated. Joe Willock’s offside goal is really harsh. The lads have had to do it the hard way and full credit to the mentality of the group, the feeling, because we’ve had it tough in recent weeks. That game could have got away from us but we didn’t allow it to and I felt we fully deserved to win.”
Howe was pleased with the impact of two summer signings during the game. “I was delighted for Malick, he’s played really well for us. He’s been an ever-present. He’s been really strong in his performances and scored some really important goals for us. That was a massive one because he showed the desire to get to the ball first and a cool finish. He’s been outstanding, JJ (Ramsey) has played really well in recent weeks and Elanga played really well.
So I always say with the transfer market you have to be patient, wait and see how the players settle in and show their best form. I felt it was a promising night in that respect.”
What next for Spurs?
Sunday, February 22: Arsenal (Home), Premier League, 4.30pm UK, 11.30am ET
What next for Newcastle?