Newcastle United’s two-game win streak was snapped at the hands of Tottenham at Wembley Stadium yesterday.
Newcastle United fought hard the entire match, but a rare mistake from Martin Dubravka gifted Tottenham with a 1-0 victory. The home team dominated the offensive side of the game, but they had a difficult time against the five man bunker Newcastle had in defense.
Rafa Benitez was pleased with the urgency his men displayed and he said the unexpected victory against Manchester City earlier in the week lessened the blow to this loss. Here are some of the key observations we made during yesterday’s match at Wembley Stadium.
Dubravka Not To Blame
The commentators assigned to the match, and hundreds of Newcastle supporters on Twitter, were quick to blame Dubravka for the goal Newcastle conceded in the 82nd minute, but that is not fair. Dubravka made some big saves in this match and he timed his runs out of goal to catch aerial balls with perfection.
Could the goal scored by Son Hueng-min been avoided? Yes, but if you look carefully at the replay in slow motion, one can see that the ball hit the ground right before reaching Dubravka’s knee and it bounced under him. The primary blame for the goal should go to Florian Lejeune and Sean Longstaff for failing to stop Son’s dribbling.
Schar-Lascelles Duo
The entire defensive unit deserves to be praised, but Fabian Schar and Jamaal Lascelles were top players for the Magpies yesterday. Lascelles showcased his aggressive style of play by making big tackles near the goal and intercepting potential assists. Schar did well to frustrate Tottenham’s front-line with his quick feet, quick tackles and quick reactions. Schar’s ability to clear Christian Eriksen’s header off the line kept the Magpies in the game.
Too Defensive
I understand that Newcastle are a counter-attacking team, but there were too many bodies defending behind the ball, especially in the second half. Despite the disparity in quality, this was a match that Newcastle could have won and they had three great chances to score. Benitez should have told his men to get forward more often. A draw would have been a respectable result, but a victory was not out of the question.
Tottenham were without Harry Kane and Dele Alli, and this was noticeable as it took the home side 82 minutes to score. That being said, more offensive urgency from Newcastle could have completely changed the game. As a result of this ultra-defensive approach, my personal opinion is that Newcastle dropped points at Wembley.