Late Willock goal earns Newcastle draw with Spurson April 4, 2021 at 3:39 pm

Newcastle earned a vital point in their fight for Premier League survival thanks to a late equaliser against Tottenham from on-loan Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock at St James’ Park.

By Callum MatthewsBBC Sport

The 21-year-old reacted quickest, after Miguel Almiron’s effort was cleared off the line, to fire into the roof of the net and deny Spurs a place in the top four for the first time since 2 January.

In an entertaining game Newcastle took the lead when Joelinton slotted home a lovely threaded pass from Sean Longstaff after Spurs were guilty of overplaying at the back.

Jose Mourinho’s side responded within 90 seconds as the hosts, and in particular Emil Krafth, failed to clear in the area, and an alert Kane prodded home for his 18th goal of the campaign.

The visitors were leading four minutes later when Kane, fed by a brilliant reverse pass from Tanguy Ndombele, clinically fired across Martin Dubravka from the right-hand corner of the penalty area.

The 27-year-old almost got a third, moments before Willock’s goal, but his effort cannoned into the base of the post and behind.

Newcastle – who have now only won two of their past 19 Premier League games – remain 17th, but have a three-point advantage over Fulham who occupy the final relegation spot after the Cottagers lost 3-1 at Aston Villa.

Tottenham, who conceded a 97th-minute equaliser against Newcastle earlier in the season, move up to fifth – above Liverpool and West Ham – but remain two points behind Chelsea who are in the final Champions League spot.

Joelinton stands up for Bruce

In their final game before the international break Newcastle were well below par in a 3-0 defeat at Brighton, and Bruce would have have spent much of the two weeks wondering about his future, with 95% of fans in a local newspaper pollexternal-link calling for him to be sacked.

However, the former Birmingham and Hull boss will be happy with the desire and application shown by his side.

They made five changes from that defeat – with Matt Ritchie, Jacob Murphy and Longstaff all making their first starts since January – and started positively with Joelinton having an effort saved from distance, before Hugo Lloris made a brilliant double save to deny Dwight Gayle.

They pressed high throughout the first period, and got their rewards when sloppy Tottenham passing and a weak Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg tackle saw the ball break free for Longstaff who stayed calm to find Joelinton, who passed into the bottom corner for just his second league goal of the season.

Newcastle were suspect defensively throughout, and Bruce will be fuming with the soft nature of the first goal, where Krafth should have just cleared for a corner rather than trying to play in his own six-yard box.

They had chances to equalise earlier with Joelinton firing wide with a volley, but the striker, who now has four league goals since his £40m transfer in July 2019, did well to nod down for the equaliser with Willock adjusting his feet well to fire into the roof of the net.

The point could prove crucial with West Ham, Liverpool, Arsenal, Leicester and Manchester City still to play in their final eight games.

Kane proves his worth

Speculation about Kane’s long-term future at Tottenham was rife during the international break, with reports suggesting he is becoming disillusioned at the fact he is yet to win a trophy at Spurs, and those rumours only intensified when he was mentioned as a possible replacement for the departing Sergio Aguero at Manchester City.

Kane, however, has done his talking on the pitch. He scored in both appearances for England, and was once again in deadly form as he moved level with former Spurs striker Jermain Defoe in eighth place on the all-time Premier League goalscoring charts with 162.

He was in the right place at the right time for the first goal, as he capitalised on a woeful piece of Newcastle defending to equal his goalscoring exploits last season.

If his first was slightly fortunate, then his second was absolutely clinical. He timed his run to perfection and drilled superbly across Dubravka to bring up his 45-goal involvement this season in all competitions – with 29 goals and 16 assists – matching his best tally in 2017-18.

Pre-game, Spurs boss Mourinho said Chelsea’s defeat on Saturday “didn’t change our perspective” but he will know that this was a missed opportunity in what could be a defining month in his reign in north London.

Tepid exits from the FA Cup and Europa League have again led to speculation about his long-term future, and Mourinho – whose side have now lost 15 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season – will know upcoming games against Manchester United, Everton and the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on 25 April are likely to influence whether he is in charge next campaign.

‘We always gave Newcastle a chance’ – what they said

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce told BBC Sport: “I was delighted with the performance. I think we needed that. We needed to show what we’re about. We had an awful five minutes where we gave an awful goal then they produced a good bit of quality to open us up.

“The way the players responded and played throughout… I thought we were the better team and had an edge and energy about us.

“I was determined I would pick a team who hadn’t been away half way around the world and would be fresh. They deserved to win the game and it was the performance I was delighted with.”

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I am frustrated. We needed to win the match and we came to win. We were not far from winning it but, at the same time, we created some instability on the game with so many individual defensive mistakes that we made. We always gave Newcastle a chance to be in the game.

“Of course, we had the biggest chance of the game to make it 3-1 and kill it, then we concede a goal the next minute.

“Looking at the second goal, it’s easy to understand because there’s three different moments – the cross, the ball at the far post where they won it, and then the ball in the face of the goal where our two centre-backs were in position. You can analyse it easily.”

Generous Spurs – the stats

• Tottenham Hotspur have dropped four points from winning positions against Newcastle this season, their most in a season against a single side since also dropping four versus Arsenal and West Brom in 2015-16.
• Newcastle have drawn three consecutive Premier League games at St James’ Park for the first time since another three-game run in December 2017-January 2018.
• Tottenham have failed to win six Premier League games this season in which they led at half-time, the most of any side.
• They have also have dropped 11 points because of goals conceded in the final 10 minutes of games this season, the most of any Premier League side.
• Newcastle had 17 shots from inside the box, their most in a Premier League game since recording 23 such efforts against Huddersfield Town in February 2019 under Rafael Benitez.
• Spurs boss Jose Mourinho has faced Newcastle’s Steve Bruce as a manager 13 times in all competitions and has never lost against him (W9 D4). In his career, he has faced no other manager more times without defeat (P13 W10 D3 L0 against Sam Allardyce).
• Newcastle’s Joelinton has scored four goals in 62 Premier League appearances, with two of those goals coming in four matches against Spurs – two in 58 versus every other side.

What’s next?

Newcastle travel to Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday, 11 April (12:00 BST), before Tottenham host Mourinho’s former side Manchester United at 16:30 on the same day.

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