If ever you wanted to understand the distinction between “winning the transfer market” and winning an actual football match, then this was the game for you. Tottenham’s first home fixture of the Premier League season began with adulatory focus on all their new players. It ended in decisive defeat to Newcastle as recruit after recruit failed to make their presence pay, while Newcastle’s forgotten forwards made hay. “Tottenham Hotspur, it’s happened again,” sang the Toon Army as if it needed pointing out.
Tottenham should have taken the lead in a first half they had the better of, but they had no response to impressive second-half strikes by Anthony Elanga and Yoanne Wissa. What had looked like green shoots of positivity withered to nothing. For a Newcastle team themselves a work in progress under Matthias Jaissle, this was a heartening victory achieved with many of their own additions to come in.
Rarely can there have been a club so desperate to show their fans that they have flashed the cash as Spurs this summer. Vinai Venkatesham, the Tottenham chief executive, wrote a two-page letter in the programme that led on the spending and proclaimed: “We have attracted the names we wanted to attract.” Before kick-off there was a brief ceremony to welcome all eight signings to the club. “We spent and we spent, and we’ve got lots of top players,” sang the club announcer.
Time will tell on the latter point, but there was no arguing over the former. The £116m purchase Sandro Tonali started in midfield and was booed on his every touch by the Newcastle fans in a performance that only spluttered. The Italian was not the only player finding his feet either, with four other summer recruits in Roberto De Zerbi’s XI and £60m Omar Marmoush starting 24 hours after signing for the club. For Jaissle’s Newcastle, there was a debut for Nico González, signed this week for £50m from Manchester City, and another showing for new goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek and right-back Amar Dedic.
Newcastle started the brighter, with Wissa full of energy at the tip of the visitors’ attack. Spurs were sloppy and looked porous, but they did not give up a true opportunity and – as the half wore on – they took control of proceedings. On the left-hand side Mathys Tel began to combine with Andy Robertson. The midfield three of Tonali, £85m Mateus Fernandes and Rodrigo Bentancur began to interchange positions. Even the wildcard selection of Pedro Porro at right wing showed flashes of success with the Spaniard seeing his close-range shot well blocked in the 17th minute. Spurs had decent chances for both Tel and Jan Paul van Hecke too, but Hornicek did well to save both efforts.
Something changed at half-time and the resulting shift in the dynamic of the match is likely to have been a familiar experience for Tottenham supporters. Whatever energy had been visible in the home team, whatever nascent understanding between players, fell away after the break. Newcastle were more compact, but also more assertive and began to see more of the ball. Just after the hour they took the lead from a move beautiful in its simplicity.
It began with González, 10 yards outside his box, hitting a 60-yard pass left to right and to the corner of the Tottenham area. There it was met by Dedic, who had run beyond his winger to head the ball down into the path of Elanga. The Sweden international, whose future at the club has been under scrutiny but who has begun the season in sterling form, took a touch to steady himself, spun on the ball and drove a left-foot shot inside of the far post for his second goal in two matches.
The travelling support went bananas, De Zerbi looked shellshocked. The Italian went for a triple sub and the return of Mohammed Kudus after eight months out. It did not help as Spurs were soon two down. A loosely conceded corner in the 72nd minute was sent deep by Lewis Hall, where the substitute Nick Woltemade was lurking in plain sight. The German held off the attentions of Destiny Udogie and headed the ball into the path of Wissa, who audaciously scooped the ball over his head and past Antonin Kinsky.
There were more ecstatic celebrations from the travelling fans, who got further pleasure from cheering the substitution of Tonali. Spurs supporters, sadly, had to make do with the traditional act of booing their team at full time.
