Tottenham missed an opportunity to strengthen their bid for a Champions League place with a 4-0 loss to Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon
The loss is a huge opportunity for top-four rivals Aston Villa ahead of Sunday’s Premier League game against Arsenal
There was only one change from last weekend’s game against Nottingham Forest, when Rodrigo Bentancur joined the team, and Spurs forced a few chances early on, which Timo Werner missed
Newcastle had created several chances and took the lead just after the 30th minute when Alexander Isak converted a pass from Anthony Gordon
Things got even worse for the Lilywhites two minutes later when the England international scored after some poor play from Pedro Polo
Newcastle extended their lead just after the break when Isak, brought on by Bruno Guimarães, made no mistake as he passed Micky van de Ven
There was still time for Eddie Howe’s side to score a fourth late on, with Fabian Schaal scoring a powerful header from Gordon’s corner to make the score 1-0
Here are five things we noticed from the game at St James’s Park: Bad luck for Hojbjerg Postecoglou was at St James’s after last weekend’s 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest
・Selected only for games at the park
Just one change
Bentancur replaced Pape Matar Sarr in the center of the pitch
Bentancur came on as a substitute in last Sunday’s game against Forest, but played 45 minutes and was instrumental in helping Spurs regain control of the midfield
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also came on at the same time as his team-mate and contributed significantly to the final result, but the Dane remained on the North East bench until Spurs were already three points behind
Newcastle fan sends message to Maddison Had things gone differently last summer, James Maddison might have had to play against Tottenham on Saturday afternoon
The England international was always prepared to leave Leicester City due to his contract situation and relegation to the Championship, and was linked with a move to Spurs or Newcastle United
One thing the Magpies could offer him was Champions League football after securing a top-four spot last season
Tottenham, on the other hand, failed to offer the player any European football after a disastrous season in which they finished eighth
However, in the end Maddison opted for a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, something some Newcastle fans clearly did not forget
Ten minutes into the game, the midfielder took a corner kick in front of the Gallowgate End, prompting chants of “greedy (expletive)” from the home team
Midway through the first half, the chants got even louder when Maddison felt Dan Byrne should have been shown a yellow card for a foul on the halfway line
When he was substituted with 10 minutes remaining, there was jeers as he made way and the chants started again, sending Newcastle fans into a mood of jubilation as their side took a massive lead
Nuances of last season Tottenham fans couldn’t shake off last season’s 6-1 defeat at St James’ Park for their final visit to Tyneside
Despite not having been in charge for 12 months, Postecoglou was asked about the embarrassing defeat in his pre-match press conference
The same didn’t happen last April after Tottenham were five goals down in just 21 minutes
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