Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 match report: Outstanding Emmanuel Adebayor keeps Spurs firing emphatically for Tim Sherwood
Pressure now on Magpies manager Alan Pardew to halt miserable run of three successive defeats by three or more goals
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Keep winning. There is no other way for Tim Sherwood. Create momentum, shoot for the top four. It still may not be enough for Daniel Levy.
Louis van Gaal and Frank de Boer were both mentioned on the morning of a game. Winning emphatically away from home was the best riposte. Sherwood’s players did that. They did it for their head coach. For however long, they are playing for the unexpected manager of Spurs.
Victories away from home, against 11 men, are rarely as emphatic as their success here. Tottenham were excellent, and they were excellent from the very start to the very end. That they had not won in the league at St James’ Park since 2004 added to the scale of their achievement.
Sherwood was a jack in the box for the first half, in which Emmanuel Adebayor, who had too much physique and too much wit for the home defenders, scored. By the time the second came, before the hour mark, his mood had calmed. In the end it was a stroll against a team whose confidence is collapsing, like the club they play for.
Norwich and Cardiff come next for Spurs. There is everything to play for. What may have surprised Sherwood was the degree of comfort with which this victory came. Newcastle have now won one and lost seven of their last nine games. They have failed to score in seven of those games. It has been another destabilising run.
They were again weak and poor. It was their third successive defeat by three or more. There is now pressure on Alan Pardew to halt a miserable run. His side were a sorry second best to the visitors.
Tottenham’s lead came early, and it was deserved. There remains an underlying feeling that Newcastle’s season is already finished. The club’s owner, Mike Ashley, once more did not attend. It adds to the sense of a team without direction.
The visitors drove into the uncertainty. The first half was theirs. Twice they went close inside the first six minutes. Barely five minutes had passed when Adebayor saw an angled shot deflected narrowly wide of a post. Younes Kaboul then robbed Davide Santon inside his own penalty area, pulled the ball back and Paulinho’s drive was parried away by Tim Krul.
Newcastle did have an opportunity in the eighth minute, when a knockdown by Luuk de Jong found Papiss Cissé, but Hugo Lloris did well to deny the recalled forward at close range.
The significance of the save came in the 19th minute. Again Newcastle were defensively poor. Moussa Sissoko was robbed by Nabil Bentaleb and this time Krul, who had excelled in the clubs’ meeting at White Hart Lane, could only divert the ball to Adebayor. The forward was an outcast in his own football club at the time of that previous game; this time he remained calm when the opportunity came his way to slot in his seventh goal in 11 Premier League games.
Five minutes later Spurs’ lead was almost doubled. The cross this time came from Kyle Walker on the right, and it needed a saving tackle by Mike Williamson to deny Aaron Lennon. It took woodwork to do that just past the half hour, when Lennon wriggled free of Yoan Gouffran to clip a shot agaainst Krul’s far post, with the keeper again beaten.
The game was finished by the 53rd minute. Adebayor was given the time to shoot low from 25 yards. Krul did well to save with his right hand, at full stretch, but the rebound broke to the unmarked Paulinho and he shot low into the corner of the Newcastle goal.
Adebayor added a third in the 83rd minute, again from a rebound, and in the 88th minute, with St James’ Park emptying rapidly, Nacer Chadli curled in a superb fourth.
Man of match Adebayor.
Match rating 5/10.
Referee N Swarbrick (Lancashire).
Attendance 48,264.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments