Newcastle United (home) 27.09.2020

A shocking interpretation of the laws regarding handball gave Newcastle a hugely undeserved point at the death in this match that Tottenham should have wrapped up much earlier and would have had the visiting goalkeeper not been in inspired form.

It was a grey day as Newcastle turned up kitted out in a purple and black outfit that looked like a designer had gone mad with his  computer when the lights had gone out. Although the opponents kicked off, they soon dropped back in large numbers, but even then Shelvey was guilty of a cynical pull back with an arm round Lo Celso’s neck off the ball. From it, Gio curled a shot heading towards the top corner and Darlow clawed it out, but it dropped in front of goal and Kane bounced a shot at goal that the keeper recovered to keep out and then Kane couldn’t get his foot around it and knocked it into the air. It was an early chance that would have bucked the trend of going a goal behind in our league games.

With ten players within 30 yards of their own goal, it was going to have to be a patient afternoon to keep trying to break down the Newcastle masses. Kane almost achieved it in the ninth minute, when Hojbjerg’s cross found Harry Kane getting in between Lascelles and Fernandez to head at goal from close range, but again, Darlow dived to his right to push the ball away. It was all spurs, as most of the time Newcastle couldn’t find an out ball, which meant they were content to sit back and defend.

On a rare venture into the Tottenham half, they got a free-kick for Davies’ push on Wilson, but it only brought a corner as Doherty headed it out at the far post. Spurs headed the corner away. But Lascelles went down like he had been punched in the face, but replays showed that Sanchez had an outstretched arm that the Newcastle captain ran into.

Spurs moved the ball from inside their own half with Hojbjerg finding Son, who fed Kane on the left. He beat Hayden with a step-over and fired the ball across the face of the six-yard box. Lo Celso missed it after it had cut out the keeper, but Lucas Moura came in at the far post to knock it back into the goal. Ritchie was the defender at the back stick, but let it go and Moura nipped in to
score.  Son beat the high line, with Newcastle pushing up for once and he looked to play Moura in, but had the ball cut out for a corner. From it, the ball came to Kane, who came inside from the left and tried to curl a shot into the far post, but Darlow dived to his left to palm it out for another corner. The keeper did better with this corner, taking it high at the far post.

On the half hour, the ball came to Kane on the edge of the D and was upended by Hayden, but the pass to Son in space allowed him to strike a shot that came back off the foot of the keeper’s right-hand post. While Newcastle weren’t going forward too much, they were being moved around, as Tottenham passed the ball well and you wondered how much it would take out of them in the latter
stages.

Lo Celso lifted the ball over the visitors’ back line for Son on the left, but Hayden headed it out for a corner. Son played it well to the far post and everyone was under it except Eric Dier, who had a free header, which he put wide. It really deserved a better finish. As Newcastle gave the ball away again, Son’s cross was knocked up in the air and Lo Celso tried an overhead kick, but it went over the bar.

Four minutes before the break, Doherty came inside to head it down and Lo Celso laid it back to Son, who struck the bar with the keeper beaten from just outside the box. With the next move, Davies volleyed a ball across the box, but no Spurs player could get a touch on it.  In added time, Almiron won a corner off Doherty and from the second phase, after it had been cleared. Shelvey got free on the far post to meet Ritchie’s left-wing cross on the volley, but it was curling away from goal as he aimed to hit it back the way it had come.

Spurs started the second half on the front foot, with Steven Bergwijn replacing Son. He linked with Moura on the right and played the ball back to Lo Celso, whose cross was knocked back into the area when Hendrick flung a leg at it. It dropped to the left about 12 yards out and Kane was onto it, but dragged his left foot shot well wide of the far post.

After a corner was punched out by Darlow, Lo Celso’s second found Moura at the near post and his header was on target, forcing  Darlow to a low save. Then Hojbjerg tried a shot from 20 yards that was blocked. It dropped for Giovani, who tried to engineer a yard of space, just inside the area, but ended up toe-poking the ball straight to the keeper.

Newcastle moved for3ward. With Ritchie hitting a shot at goal that struck Doherty in front of him, with the away team calling for a  penalty. As the Spurs defender had put his hands behind his back, there was no way that it could have been a spot-kick, which VAR confirmed. They got a corner, when the ball clearly came off their player, but it cleared everyone. Joelinton picked it up and turned inside between Winks and Doherty, but his curling effort evaded the far post as well as the forwards in the middle.

Just before the hour, Tottenham created a half-chance, when Davies’ cross was won in the air by Moura, with Kane getting onto it,  but again, he hit it into the ground which allowed Darlow to get behind it. At the other end, Almiron played it square for Hendrick, who pulled it wide from 20 yards out. Then it was back to the Newcastle goal, with Doherty set free by Kane, but with nobody in the
middle to find. When the ball came back in to Lo Celso, he tried a low curling effort that the keeper pushed aside, but Kane picked it up and struck it at goal, with Lascelles blocking it. There were shouts for handball, but the decision was that he had his hands close to his body. However, Kane got the ball again and dinked a ball to the far post, but just too high for Ben Davies, who wass
coming in.

There was a long stoppage for treatment to Ritchie who hurt his shoulder on landing, when Doherty won the ball in the air against him. He had to be replaced by Jamal Lewis.

Manquillo won a crunching tackle with Davies, but then gave the ball away to Hojbjerg. The ball was played across the pitch and when it came across the box, Bergwijn had a shot but once more, it was into the ground, taking the power off it and allowing Darlow to save with a dive to his right. Spurs continued to move the ball well, winning a corner on our left and Bergwijn’s ball in found Sanchez, but he was just beaten to the ball.

Mourinho replaced Lo Celso with Ndombele, while Bruce brought on Andy Carroll for Almiron, so you knew what they were planning. Lamela came on for Lucas Moura with 11 minutes left, having put in a good shift. Carroll won the first ball played up to him and when he got one on the floor, he went down with Sanchez in close attention, wanting a free-kick and abusing the linesman when he didn’t get one.

Spurs did, on the right-hand side of the penalty area, given for Lewis’ blatant block on Doherty as he cur inside him. Lamela lined it up and his shot was heading under the bar, but Darlow flapped it over the top. A neat bit of play between Ndombele and Bergwijn saw the ball go into the box and more shouts for handball against Lascelles, but Kane got a shot it, but it didn’t trouble the keeper.
Hoidting a long high ball forward, Carroll knocked it on and Dier won the second ball. As it dropped, Davies tried to clear it, but Hojbjerg was close to him and it hit the midfielder, luckily going wide for a corner. Carroll won the header when it came across and they wanted a penalty as it hit Dier on the back. It wasn’t given as how can a player handle it when it hits him on the back ?

Hojbjerg was penalised for a foul on Joelinton and it was aimed at Carroll, but his knock down was cleared and when he got a header to another one, he headed it on and Dier’s arm was hit again. It was looked at by Var and they then had to look at a possible offside. As usual, it took a long time, lengthened by the referee going to the pitch-side monitor and gave a penalty. Just what Newcastle
had been wanting all match, as they didn’t look like scoring otherwise.  So, after leading for 70 minutes of the match, the opposition scored in the 97th minute, having literally having had a goal handed to them. Lloris went the right way, but Wilson’s shot went in just inside the post. Another late penalty and another one scored by the other team, but it didn’t matter last week.

It is becoming a joke that penalties are being given in this fashion. Spurs could easily have had one when Lascelles moved his arm to the ball, but because it was against his body, it wasn’t given. How can the one that was given against Dier in the last minute be given when he was jumping for the ball and had his back to it. And it’s not only Spurs who are suffering. Roy Hodgson said the ruling is killing the game and Manchester United have also been harshly penalised. FIFA won’t change the ruling now … or ever … so throw the ball into the box and see what happens. Unless players have their arms tied behind their back, it’s going to happen.

The penalty aside, Spurs should have wrapped this up much earlier, having a large number of shots on goal, but not being clinical enough to get a second goal to make the points secure. It is a worry with so many games coming up, but we need to put these games  to bed. We got away with it last week, but Newcastle were no threat for the whole game, so killing off the game should have been easier, despite their defensive blockade. It’s a point more than we got against Newcastle here last year, but that is little consolation with the three points being reduced to one.

With Chelsea coming to the new stadium on Tuesday, Mourinho will shuffle his pack again, especially with Son’s hamstring likely to keep him out for a while and with the promise of a trophy this season, the League Cup is one that he will have to go for. Then just two days later, Maccabi Haifa arrive for a play-off to decide who might be in the Europa League group stages.  Hectic … yes. How we will come out of it, only time will tell.

Stan Chun

I think that the standard of refereeing in general in the Premier League has been sliding downwards.  Will that change ?  I doubt it.

Peter Johnson

Players took the knee before kick-off.

Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy plays his 200th career league game.