Newcastle brutally expose fragile Tottenham in yet another St James' Park collapse

NEWCASTLE 4-0 TOTTENHAM: Ange Postecoglou's side were thrashed on Tyneside for the second successive season as the Magpies served a major blow to their top-four aspirations

It was Nightmare at Newcastle: The Sequel.

There’s something about playing Newcastle at St James’ Park that sends Tottenham into a hapless freefall. What an embarrassment this was. Soft Spurs’ heaviest defeat in the league under Ange Postecoglu.

When you are faced with a striker in the ruthless form of Alexander Isak - 21 now for the season - and the pesky movement of Anthony Gordon you need to be on top of your game.

Instead Ange Postecoglu’s side were brutally exposed and mistake-ridden, in a result which damages their Champions League hopes, as much as it boosted the Toon’s Europa League aim.

Isak now has seven in his last seven, confirming his world class credentials. In April last season, Spurs were 5-0 down after 20 minutes at St James Park, and suffered a 6-1 defeat. This time Newcastle stuck at just four.

Two games in Newcastle, TEN conceded. “Tottenham Hotspur, it’s happened again…” sang the jubilant Toon crowd.

Argentine Giovani Lo Celso showed more nark and aggression trying to provoke Brazilian Bruno Buimaraes into an after match tussle than Spurs did in the game.

Now they face Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City in their next five games.

It took half an hour for Spurs to suffer a crazy collapse 50 weeks on. The visitors conceded twice in a 95 second meltdown reminiscent of last season’s flimsy collapse.

Alexander Isak opened the scoring, breaking free on goal and dumping Micky Van de Ven on his backside with a cutback before slamming home for his 16th league goal of the campaign. Anthony Gordon was the creator, sending Isak clear after outmuscling Destiny Udogie.

Worse was to come for Spurs. Dan Burn won a strong defensive header on the touchline and Pedro Porro failed to deal with the ball. He hooked it towards his own box straight into the path of Gordon.

The England winger cut inside, just like Isak has and smashed home his tenth of the season in the top flight. And as in the first goal van de Ven fell over instead of blocking.

The panic was all too familiar with Spurs on Tyneside.

Isak almost made it three by the 36th minute but had his identical effort blocked and it was a difficult day for the Spurs back four who were pulled around and outpaced. But the third inevitably arrived after half time. Isak continued his prolific scoring streak of five in his last four games.

It was such a simple move. Bruno Guimaraes pinged a quarterback style long ball over the top, with Isak in his own half on his starting blocks in his own half. He comfortably outpaced Van de Ven, who appeared to be playing with an injury, and there was no doubt the 40 yard sprint would end with the ball in the net.

The fourth was a well worked corner, which coach Jason Tindall looked delighted with. Gordon swung over the cross, Toon runners cleared out space at the back post, which allowed defender Fab Schar to head home unchallenged.

This Newcastle performance had the look of a side well drilled for the week on the training ground, with Howe doing a roll call of those fit, and working out their best route to a win.

Winger Jacob Murphy was at right back looking to exploit his running power, in a team Howe described as versatile. They were 5-4-1 without the ball and 3-4-3 with it.

Timo Werner squandered two early chances, after Brennan Johnson and James Maddison crossed then the game swung.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.