Newcastle 2-3 Tottenham: Player ratings as Harry Kane ends goal drought
By Sean Walsh
Harry Kane grabbed his first Premier League goal of the season as Spurs came from a goal down to beat Newcastle 3-2 at St James' Park.
Steve Bruce took charge of his 1000th game in football management but was unable to mastermind his side to a victory in the first match following Newcastle's takeover.
The game was temporarily suspended due to a medical emergency in the stands, and the fan who was taken ill is now in a stable condition in hospital.
Newcastle enjoyed a fast start when Javier Manquillo's cross was met by Callum Wilson, and the England striker gave the home side a second-minute lead.
Spurs were initially poor in their response to going behind, but did find themselves level a quarter of an hour later when Tanguy Ndombele's strike found the top corner of Karl Darlow's net.
Kane thought he had turned the game around with a clever dink over Darlow minutes later, but the flag was raised. After a VAR check however, he was adjudged to be onside and the goal was given.
Bruce's side looked threatening on the counter attack as they went in search of an equaliser, with Wilson's low cross so nearly being met by Allan Saint-Maximin.
Lucas Moura rose highest from a corner and his header hit the bar before the game was suspended for the medical emergency, with Sergio Reguilon and Eric Dier playing big roles in the fan receiving help.
Son Heung-min added a third for Spurs in the delayed first half stoppage time after some neat interplay on the edge of the Newcastle box released Kane into the channel, and his South Korean teammate buried his cross with ease.
Tottenham had complete control of the second half, with Ndombele nearly finding his second of the afternoon on the hour mark and Matt Ritchie being cleared of handling the ball in his own area by VAR.
Substitute Jonjo Shelvey received a second yellow card for a cynical foul on Reguilon to compound Newcastle's misery, but they were handed a lifeline with stoppage time approaching when Eric Dier somehow put the ball in his own net following a free kick.
Spurs managed to keep Newcastle at bay and picked up a valuable three points on the road.
Here are your player ratings for both teams...
Newcastle United player ratings
1. Goalkeeper & defenders
Karl Darlow (GK) - 5/10 - Couple of hairy moments commanding his own area, but didn't make any glaring errors.
Javier Manquillo (RB) - 4/10 - The nicest thing I can say about Manquillo's performance is he wasn't completely embarrassed by Son. But he also bagged an assist, so, every cloud...
Jamaal Lascelles (CB) - 3/10 - A leader, sure, but so obviously lacks the quality to be the leader Newcastle want for the future.
Ciaran Clark (CB) - 3/10 - Way off the pace.
Matt Ritchie (LB) - 4/10 - Made Lucas Moura look decent.
2. Midfielders
Isaac Hayden (DM) - 5/10 - Tried his best to clamp Spurs' midfield and started that well, but was eventually overrun by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp.
Sean Longstaff (CM) - 3/10 - Played like Clark if he was a midfielder.
Joe Willock (CM) - 3/10 - Had little to no impact on any proceedings. Booked for a rubbish dive.
3. Forwards
Allan Saint-Maximin (RW) - 7/10 - Always dangerous and on another day would have grabbed a goal.
Callum Wilson (CF) - 7/10 - Ditto, except he did grab a goal.
Joelinton (LW) - 4/10 - Nowhere near as dangerous as Newcastle's other attackers and it limited them going forward.
4. Substitutes
Jonjo Shelvey (CM) - 2/10 - What was the point?
Ryan Fraser (LW) - 4/10
Jacob Murphy (RW) - 4/10
Tottenham player ratings
5. Goalkeeper & defenders
Hugo Lloris (GK) - 5/10 - Had little to do after the second minute.
Emerson Royal (RB) - 5/10 - Looked incredibly lost early on but grew into the game. Last played for Brazil a couple of days ago and jetted straight back, in his defence.
Cristian Romero (CB) - 5/10 - Swap 'Brazil' for 'Argentina' and this is a carbon copy of Emerson's entry.
Eric Dier (CB) - 4/10 - Comical own goal clouded what was a decent performance. See this tweet for what my initial assessment of him was.
Sergio Reguilon (LB) - 7/10 - Very effective going forward despite some hairy moments trying to tame Saint-Maximin.
6. Midfielders
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (CM) - 7/10 - Picked out Kane with a lovely ball for Spurs' second.
Oliver Skipp (CM) - 7/10 - Improving and adapting to the pace of the Premier League every week.
Tanguy Ndombele (AM) - 7/10 - Scored a banger and was a net positive for Spurs, unlike in his last appearance as a number 10.
7. Forwards
Lucas Moura (RW) - 6/10 - Caused some trouble but you felt he could still have inflicted more damage.
Harry Kane (CF) - 9/10 - Bang up for it and you could see it. Linked play well and is back among the goals.
Son Heung-min (LW)- 8/10 - Always involved and always threatening.