Ultra-defensive Newcastle lose at Wembley

Newcastle United fought hard at Wembley Stadium, but Tottenham edged this one out with a 1-0 victory.

Newcastle United traveled to Wembley Stadium full of confidence after winning their last two Premier League matches, but Tottenham managed to score a late goal to secure three crucial points in their title hunt. Newcastle were far more defensive than they were in their last two matches, but Son Hueng-min was able to find an opening to score an important goal. Here is how things played out over the course of the match.

First Half

The opening ten minutes of this match witnessed Newcastle doing a lot of ball chasing as Tottenham maintained 74% of the possession. Tottenham’s game plan was quite obvious as they constantly looked to build their attack through Son Hueng-min, who was lined up on the left wing.

The first major chance in this match came in the 16th minute when Lucas Moura’s simple header went wide from five feet away. The poor marking in the box left Rafa Benitez fuming, but his side was relieved not to concede. Six minutes later, Tottenham came close to scoring once again, but a header from Erik Lamela met the crossbar. The home side kept knocking on the door for a goal while Newcastle continued to defend.

Ayoze Perez won a great duel in the 28th minute and he maneuvered his way around two players to get the ball out wide and Christian Atsu’s bouncing cross landed perfectly for Salomon Rondon, but his attempt was blocked for a corner kick. Two minutes later, Isaac Hayden had a good look at goal from outside the box off a corner kick, but his shot lacked sufficient power.

Newcastle almost conceded a goal in the 37th minute when Moussa Sissoko was all alone at the edge of the box and curled a shot around DeAndre Yedlin, but Martin Dubravka came up with a big diving save.

Overall, Newcastle did well to contain Christian Eriksen and Son, but they gave Moura too much space and freedom in the box. Tottenham had eight shots compared to Newcastle’s three in the first half, but they both went into the tunnel on level terms, 0-0.

Second Half

Tottenham picked up right where they left off to start the second half as Davinson Sanchez was inches away from scoring a curling header after being unmarked during a corner kick in the 48th minute. Newcastle reacted well as they hit the post in the 50th minute. Yedlin delivered a wonderful cross to Rondon, but his header bounced back off the frame of the goal.

The action picked up over the next 15 minutes, but no meaningful chances were created. Tottenham began to look frustrated and they threw all their bodies forward in search of a goal, but Newcastle were scrappy and stubborn in defense. Tottenham almost scored in the 65th minute, but Fabian Schar cleared the ball off the line with a quick clearance. Half of the ball crossed the line.

One minute later it was Newcastle that almost scored through Perez. Hugo Lloris made a tremendous stop as the ball was going for the top corner. Perez had Ritchie open at the edge of the box, but chose to shoot. It took 15 minutes for the next close chance to occur and it was Tottenham that almost broke the deadlock with a header that was cleared away by Ritchie before Dubravka had a chance to grab it.

The 82nd minute brought joy to the home supporters as Son managed to lose Sean Longstaff and scored a powerful shot that just bounced under Dubravka’s knee. Antonio Barreca made his debut for Newcastle in the 85th minute as he replaced Ritchie. Benitez wanted his team to push forward to try and find an equalizer in the final five minutes of action.

The Magpies were slow offensively in this match, but they were solid in defense. Their unwavering work ethic in defense should have been rewarded with a point, but in the end Son’s strike sealed the deal for Tottenham.