Alexander Isak scored twice as Newcastle United claimed an emphatic 4-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park, a result that had echoes of their 6-1 home win in the same fixture last season.
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With Aston Villa not in action until they face Premier League title hopefuls Arsenal on Sunday, Spurs were hoping to consolidate their place in the top four. Instead, Ange Postecoglou’s team slipped down to fifth on goal difference after a demolition job from the injury-hit Magpies.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +15 | 68 |
| 5 |
Spurs
TOT
|
38 | +13 | 66 |
| 6 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
38 | +14 | 63 |
| 7 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
38 | +23 | 60 |
| 8 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
38 | -1 | 60 |
Quickfire first-half goals from Isak and the brilliant Anthony Gordon put Eddie Howe’s team in control.
Isak doubled his tally after half-time, with Fabian Schar’s towering header in the closing stages adding further gloss to a comprehensive win that further boosted the hosts’ European hopes.
How the match unfolded
Timo Werner spurned two fantastic early chances for Spurs, skewing wide on both occasions after good work from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison respectively.
His profligacy proved costly on the half-hour.
Having done brilliantly to win a long ball, Gordon poked a pass through to Isak who coolly sent Micky van de Ven tumbling before impressively curling in his 20th goal of the season in all competitions.
Gordon turned from provider to scorer as Newcastle doubled their tally 95 seconds later. The former Everton winger latched onto Pedro Porro’s dreadful backpass, calmly sidestepped Van de Ven’s rash attempt at a recovery and smashed in from close range.
Porro’s game was cut short early in the second half, the Spurs full-back forced off with an apparent hamstring injury which he sustained while bursting across to deny Isak a second goal from a well-worked set-piece.
But there was no denying the Swede in the 51st minute. Isak latched onto Bruno Guimaraes’ excellent pass over Spurs' incredibly high line, with Van de Ven standing as the last defender inside Newcastle's half, before keeping his composure to slide another superb finish beyond Guglielmo Vicario.
After Emil Krafth hit the post, Schar capped off a superb performance with a fantastic header from Gordon’s corner as the Magpies gained revenge for a 4-1 defeat in the reverse fixture and moved, temporarily at least, into sixth place.
Spurs will now hope for a favour from their north London rivals Arsenal on Sunday, with the Gunners hosting fourth-placed Villa. It will then be Spurs' turn to face Arsenal in their next match on 28 April, after Postecoglou's side have had a 15-day break.
Club reports
Newcastle report | Spurs report
Spurs' Premier League fixtures
Isak on a roll
Isak has now scored 12 goals in as many Premier League appearances at St James’ Park this season. His opener saw him become the fourth player to score in six consecutive Premier League home matches for Newcastle, with only Andrew Cole (eight) and Alan Shearer (15) having longer runs, with Isak now level with Les Ferdinand’s best such streak.
The 24-year-old is now on 17 league goals for the season – as many as Mohamed Salah and behind only Ollie Watkins (18) and Erling Haaland (20) in the Golden Boot race. The only other Swede to have netted as many Premier League goals in a single campaign as Isak has this term is the great Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored 17 times for Manchester United in 2016-17.
Isak also loves scoring against Spurs, having netted twice in the 6-1 thrashing of Spurs at St James’ Park in April last year, and he is the first Newcastle player to hit 20+ goals in all competitions since club great Shearer back in the 2003-04 campaign.
Newcastle's Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Only Liverpool (42), Arsenal (38) and Man City (38, before today’s game) have earned more points in Premier League home games this season than Newcastle (36).
Spurs have now conceded 61 Premier League goals against Newcastle at St James’ Park, only conceding more at one away venue in the competition (64 at Anfield).
Each of Spurs' last three Premier League defeats by 4+ goals have come against Newcastle at St James’ Park, after their 5-1 loss in May 2016 and 6-1 defeat in April 2023. Indeed, they’ve now lost by 4+ goals against Newcastle more often than they have versus any other opponent in Premier League history (5).
Newcastle have scored 93 Premier League goals against Spurs, more than they have against any other opponent in the competition. Meanwhile, today was their first home clean sheet against Spurs in 18 home league games, since a 4-0 win in December 2003.