Harry Kane scored his first Premier League goal of the season as Tottenham Hotspur overcame Newcastle United 3-2 at St James’ Park yesterday to prolong the hosts’ winless run in a match that was briefly halted after a fan collapsed in the crowd.
Newcastle, spurred on by a buoyant atmosphere in their first game since being taken over by a Saudi Arabia-led consortium, flew out of the traps and went ahead after just 108 seconds when Callum Wilson headed in from a Javi Manquillo cross. But the bright start soon fizzled out as Spurs hit back in the 17th minute through Tanguy Ndombele, who lashed home from the edge of the box after being played in by Sergio Reguilon.
Kane gave Spurs the lead five minutes later, scoring with a smart dink following an excellent ball from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Play was suspended for nearly 25 minutes just before halftime after a fan collapsed in the East Stand of the ground. Newcastle said that the supporter’s condition had been stabilised and they were on their way to hospital.
Son Heung-min added a third from close range in first-half stoppage time before Newcastle were reduced to 10 men in the 83rd minute when Jonjo Shelvey saw red for a second booking. An own-goal from Eric Dier set up a tense finish but Spurs held on. Spurs moved up to fifth in the standings with 15 points from eight games. Newcastle are second from bottom with three points.
West Ham snatch battling win at Everton
Earlier, Angelo Ogbonna’s late header earned West Ham United a 1-0 win at Everton and lifted them to seventh in the Premier League table. The visitors struggled to create clearcut chances at Goodison Park with Everton aiming to move into the top four with a draw on Merseyside, but Ogbonna’s goal secured a vital three points for West Ham manager David Moyes against his former club.
“It was a good performance and this is a difficult place to come, as I know,” Moyes said. “(The goal) was one which we needed because we’d been knocking at the door in different ways, so we needed that to get over the line. We deserved it because of the way we played, we played some really good stuff. We had a lot of the ball, but maybe in the final third we could have been a bit cleaner.”
Neither side carved out any real chances in a cagey opening 45 minutes, with Alex Iwobi’s air shot going down as Everton’s best opening, before England stopper Jordan Pickford kept out Jarrod Bowen at the other end. The Blues did look to increase the tempo after the restart with Iwobi’s close-range effort bravely blocked by Ogbonna and Salomon Rondon flicking a header just wide of the post.
West Ham made them pay with 15 minutes left when Ogbonna got above Ben Godfrey to nod home Bowen’s whipped corner. Rafa Benitez’s side tried to rouse themselves in the final minutes, with substitute Anthony Gordon thrown on in search of an equaliser, but the visitors hung on to secure back to back Premier League wins at Everton.
“We played against a good team, they are big and strong and have quality and pace,” Benitez said. “We were fine on the counter attack but we were missing that final pass. We can talk about the corner, it wasn’t a corner for me, you have to protect your keeper in the six-yard box and it’s something that is difficult to understand in England because that is why you have the six-yard box — to ensure the keeper is more protected. Anyway it was a corner, we conceded and after that we have to be better on the ball. The reaction was there but when you play against a very good team, that is well organised, you have to be more precise and we were not.”
Newcastle United’s Javier Manquillo (left) vies for the ball with Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane during the Premier League match at St James’ Park in Newcastle, Britain, yesterday. (Reuters)
