Tottenham's crazy season continued with a 2-1 defeat at home to Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
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Spurs took early lead but immediately pegged backIsak with ninth goal in last seven gamesPressure ramps up on Ange PostecoglouFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportTELL ME MORE
Tottenham, against the spiralling pre-match odds, took the lead inside four minutes. After Timo Werner inexplicably misplaced a short corner-kick routine, Spurs worked the ball back upfield with confidence to Pedro Porro on the right flank, and his cross perfectly landed on the head of Dominic Solanke, who directed it into the bottom corner beyond Martin Dubravka.
However, their lead didn't last very long. Lucas Bergvall tried to dribble his way out of trouble but was stopped by Joelinton, whose hand struck the ball when winning possession back. Anthony Gordon was then slipped in to finish past debutant goalkeeper Brandon Austin, with the home bench furious the goal was allowed to stand with no handball call.
Newcastle went ahead just before half-time when Jacob Murphy scampered to the byline and cut a cross back for Alexander Isak, who had escaped the marking of Radu Dragusin, to tap in at the far post, notching up his ninth goal in his last seven games.
Dragusin was taken off at the break and replaced by Sergio Reguilon, meaning Tottenham played the second half without a recognised centre-back, with midfielder Archie Gray and full-back Djed Spence filling in.
A spirited Spurs pushed forth in search of a leveller and rattled the post through Brennan Johnson shortly after the interval, while Gordon blazed over at the other end following a swift breakaway. Gordon was also denied a penalty when his face bounced off the shoulder of Dejan Kulusevski, leaving him bloodied and requiring several minutes of treatment on the pitch.
James Maddison, on from the bench, went close to bringing the scores even again when his whistled shot from wide left flew round the post, while Johnson and Reguilon both flashed efforts across the face of goal shortly afterwards. Deep into 10 minutes of added time, Solanke forced one last save out of Dubravka with another header.
That was as close as Tottenham came to rescuing a point and Newcastle held off their advances for the victory. Spurs remain 11th in the Premier League standings, while the Magpies are up to fifth.
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Thomas Tuchel was in attendance in his first scouting assignment since officially taking over as England head coach this month. Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou was forced to pick Tottenham's youngest starting lineup since March 2015 as a result of their injury crisis and illness outbreak, with the average age of his XI only 23 years and 336 days.
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The onlooking Tuchel will no doubt have been pleased with what he saw from the stands, with two Englishmen on the scoresheet and plenty more impressing in his presence. Solanke's opener was a proper striker's goal, contorting his body to evade Sven Botman and thump a difficult header home, while Gordon took his equaliser well with a neat finish from a tight angle.
Newcastle's unsung heroes were their young full-back pairing of Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall. The Chelsea academy graduates were rarely beaten by their winger at one end and got down the other to join in attacks.
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Nothing seems to be going right for poor Postecoglou. His team was already in a rut before their injury crisis gripped them tight, while an illness outbreak at the club disrupted preparations for this game even further.
Tottenham have just one Premier League win since they thrashed Manchester City 4-0 after the November international break. He still has a lot of supporters but he could really do with some results to ease the pressure right now, but they have a daunting fixture list coming over the horizon.