Tottenham’s miserable home form continued today as Newcastle United claimed a 2–1 win in north London, a result that brought audible boos at full-time and sharpened the scrutiny on Thomas Frank. Newcastle were the better side for most of the evening, led for long stretches, and—crucially—had the nerve to respond immediately after Spurs’ equaliser, with Jacob Ramsey’s composed finish turning a brief Tottenham revival into another damaging defeat.
Newcastle set the tone early, winning a flurry of corners and pinning Spurs deep with direct running and quick switches of play. Tottenham struggled to settle into any rhythm, repeatedly losing second balls and retreating rather than stepping out, and Newcastle’s pressure almost told before the break when Joe Willock curled a lovely finish into the corner—only for a VAR check to rule him narrowly offside. Spurs were relieved, but that reprieve didn’t last. Deep into first-half stoppage time, Newcastle struck from another sustained spell: Guglielmo Vicario saved Malick Thiaw’s initial header, but the centre-back was quickest to the rebound and poked the ball home from close range to give the visitors a deserved lead at the interval.
Tottenham’s first half was also disrupted by another injury blow, with Wilson Odobert forced off after treatment, adding to a squad already stretched by absences. Frank’s side did improve after the restart, showing more intent and getting higher up the pitch, and they finally created a bit of momentum through Pape Matar Sarr’s driving runs and a couple of promising situations down the right. Their equaliser came from their first meaningful set-piece pressure of the night: Xavi Simons delivered a deep corner, Sarr nodded it back across goal, and Archie Gray reacted sharply to turn it in from close range for 1–1, sparking a brief surge of belief around the stadium.
That belief barely had time to grow before Newcastle shut it down. Four minutes later, Anthony Gordon drove into the box and slipped a clever pass into Ramsey, who guided a first-time left-foot finish beyond Vicario into the bottom corner. Tottenham’s defending in the build-up—backing off, failing to halt the run, and allowing the cut-back—will frustrate Frank, especially because it arrived right after Spurs had finally found a foothold.
The final stages were tense rather than frantic, with Newcastle dropping deeper to protect their lead and Spurs lacking the creativity and clarity to properly test Nick Pope. Tottenham’s best chance to salvage a point came in stoppage time: Dominic Solanke’s acrobatic attempt was blocked and the loose ball fell to Micky van de Ven just inside the area, but he blazed over, and with it went Spurs’ last real hope of rescuing something from the game. Newcastle saw out the closing moments with bodies in the box and calm clearances, earning a win that felt as much about discipline as it did about quality.
After the match, Eddie Howe praised Newcastle’s performance and admitted it felt “a strange game” because he didn’t think his side deserved to be pegged back when Tottenham equalised, but he was delighted with the response and the way Newcastle defended the closing minutes. He also singled out Ramsey’s technical quality and highlighted the energy of his midfield, pointing to Ramsey and Willock as key to Newcastle’s control for large periods. Thomas Frank was more blunt about what went wrong, conceding Newcastle were better in the first half and lamenting the key moment after Spurs levelled—one missed pass, a poor defensive sequence, and suddenly Spurs were behind again. He felt his team didn’t have enough in the final stages to force a second comeback.
