It had been argued lately that both teams were already on their holidays, with little for either side to play for, but the match certainly didn’t show it.

The biggest news regarding the line ups of the two teams was surrounding two centre backs. Fabricio Coloccini, returning from suspension, and Jan Vertonghen, recovering from illness, both took the captains armbands of their respective clubs tasked with fixing leaky defences of recent weeks.

The match started in a cagey fashion with very few chances in the first 5 minutes as possession continued to change hands. Newcastle had a game plan to exploit Tottenham’s right flank with Eric Dier fitting in as a makeshift right back following injury to Kyle Walker. At the other end, Erik Lamela looked the liveliest for Spurs, getting on the ball frequently, but the final ball was lacking for both sides in the first 10 minutes. 

Newcastle were allowing Tottenham a lot of early possession, aiming to exploit the likes of Federico Fazio on the counter attack in a strangely quiet and subdued stadium.

However, it was Tottenham who had the first opportunity going forward. In the 12th minute, Harry Kane played a cross field ball to Danny Rose but his cross deep in the Newcastle half was eventually cleared by Mike Williamson. Newcastle quickly responded with the first shot on target in the match. Yoan Gouffran cut the ball back to Ayoze Perez in the penalty box but the Spaniards shot was comfortably saved by Michel Vorm in the Tottenham goal.

The most exciting moment of the opening 15 minutes came when a Sunderland hired plane flew over the stadium. The plane carrying a banner taunting the Newcastle fans for their recent derby day defeat, making it 5 losses on the spin in the Tyne-Wear derby.

Harry Kane continued to drop deeper and deeper for Maurico Pochettino’s side trying to get the ball and make something happen. A quick counter attack led by Christian Eriksen in the 23rd minute then offered an opportunity for Tottenham’s first shot on target but the ball eventually found its way through to Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul.

Newcastle started to grow into the game and a Ryan Taylor free kick was disappointingly headed over by Williamson deep in the Tottenham penalty box. Newcastle began to get a foot hold in the game and were keeping possession much better as Tottenham began to lose concentration.

It was, however, Tottenham who broke the deadlock soon after. Paulinho won the ball off Gouffran in the Newcastle half and fed Nacer Chadli. The Belgian had plenty of work to do but unleashed a fierce 25 yard shot with his weaker left foot. Krul could, and probably should, have done better but the ball nestled in the bottom right hand corner of the goal as Tottenham took the lead.

Tottenham once again regained possession and control of the match and had a few half chances to feed Dier and Lamela in on goal. Through balls behind the Newcastle defence were proving to be the most successful means of creating goal scoring opportunities for Spurs.

Perez continued to be the bright spark for Newcastle and once again tested Vorm with a 30 yard strike in the 38th minute which was straight at the Dutchman. In reply, Chadli broke down the left and fed Kane but his shot was well saved by Krul at his near post.

A scrappy first half ended with Pochettino looking the much happier manager. John Carver will have been looking for ways to change things and brought on Gabriel Obertan and Sammy Ameobi at the interval.

The substitutions worked wonders and, just 90 seconds after the break, Newcastle equalised. Colback tucking the ball away with more than a hint of offside.

However, the equaliser was short lived as, just 5 minutes later, a Christian Eriksen free kick floated past everyone, including Krul, and into the bottom corner. The goal by the Dane meant Eriksen has now scored more goals from outside the area than any other midfielder in the Premier League, 6.

The game settled down with Chadli continuing to cause problems down the Newcastle right side. Nabil Bentaleb headed narrowly over following a fine cross by Chadli. Spurs once again came close to extending their lead in the 65th minute when a Kane volley from a Paulinho cross was only just saved on the line by Krul, goal line technology proving the ball had been saved.

Tottenham continued to control most of the possession and came close to scoring in the 75th minute when Lamela was slipped through on goal but Krul managed to get a hand on the chipped shot from the Argentine.  

Newcastle made their final substitution as Adam Armstrong came on to replace Anita with Spurs responding as Mousa Dembele took the place of goal scorer, and fellow countryman, Chadli.

Krul once again made an important save, this time from Kane, the shot from 25 yards was comfortably held. Dembele was instantly involved in the action, seeing a lot of the ball as Spurs looked to finally secure all three points.

Ben Davies replaced a hobbling Danny Rose, following an optimistic shot by Daryl Janmaat which flew harmlessly over the bar. Tottenham responded well as a Paulinho corner was spilled by Krul but Fazio could not aim his header on target.

As 3 minutes of added time were signalled, Erik Lamela broke with the ball and slid Harry Kane through on goal. The English international made no mistake and slotted the ball past Krul. Kane’s 20th league goal of the season made him the join top goal scorer in the league with Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, and put the game beyond the reach of Newcastle.

The booing could be heard from the remaining Newcastle United fans as the final whistle was blown. Tottenham, however, were left delighted as they sung with joy and will continue to believe they can finish above both Liverpool and Southampton.

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