Newcastle United’s striker Alexander Isak secured a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur with a simple tap-in as it weathered a second-half storm from the visiting side to secure full points in an entertaining Premier League clash at St James’ Park on Sunday.
Harvey Barnes’ first-half opener for Newcastle was cancelled out by a Dan Burn own goal after the break as Spurs dominated the chances in the second period but spurned numerous openings and were beaten by a lightning-quick break from the host.
Joelinton’s defence-splitting pass was perfect for Jacob Murphy who, after drawing out keeper Guglielmo Vicario, laid the ball on a plate for Isak to secure the win for manager Eddie Howe’s side, which remains unbeaten at home since January.
Adding to Newcastle’s delight, its Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali made his first league appearance since being handed a 10-month ban for a breach of betting rules and received a rapturous reception from the home supporters.
Newcastle now has seven points from its first three games, while Tottenham remains with four.
“Generally we weren’t expecting to have too much of the ball,” Isak told Sky Sports. “We wanted to be dangerous on the counter-attack. It wasn’t the most beautiful game from our side but we defended really well and scored two so that’s good.
“You always have to be concentrated. It’s easy to get frustrated. It was a tough game and tough for me – I wasn’t at my sharpest. Jacob Murphy had a great assist, very selfless, so it was just being in the right place.”
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou will rue the scoreline but not the performance as his side had complete control of the contest for long periods and pinned Newcastle in its own half.
But as it let opportunities pass by, there was always the chance the home side would use its pace up front to break and after a couple of warnings it did just that to grab the points.
Isak struck the woodwork with an early chance before Newcastle took the lead against the run of play after 37 minutes.
A quick throw-in allowed Lloyd Kelly to fire in a low cross from the left which was superbly guided into the far corner by Barnes.
Spurs winger Wilson Odobert should have equalised when he was left unmarked at the back post but he steered his volley over the bar before the visitors did level minutes later.
Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope failed to adequately deal with a James Maddison shot from the edge of the box and pushed the ball to Brennan Johnson, whose effort was cleared into his own net by Burn.
Tottenham continued to pepper the Newcastle goal but it was the host side which found the winner, thanks to the vision of Joelinton and composure of Murphy to set up Sweden international Isak.
