Headline: Newcastle United Secures Strong 2-0 Victory Against Tottenham Hotspur
Newcastle United celebrated their first Premier League win under head coach Matthias Jaissle with a convincing 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening. The match marked a challenging day for Sandro Tonali, who faced his former club for the first time since transferring to Spurs for a fee of up to £100 million last month.
As the game drew to a close, away fans taunted Tonali with chants of “Sandro, what’s the score?” highlighting the disappointing outcome of what he had anticipated would be a more positive reunion. Despite the early days of the season, Newcastle’s management appears to have made strategic investments, with recent signings including midfielder Nico Gonzalez, defender Amar Dedic, and goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek.
Jaissle, who acknowledged the challenges he took on after replacing Eddie Howe — who resigned following a 4-1 friendly defeat — is keen to maintain a realistic perspective on the team’s performance. After the match, he stated, “We have our own goals and we are clear with that,” and emphasized the need to stay grounded despite the initial success.
Reflecting on the team’s performance, Jaissle expressed pride in the players’ commitment and belief. “In the first half, we didn’t play a really good game, but we could really count on everyone throwing everything into every ball and every cross,” Jaissle commented.
Newcastle’s strategy paid off as the team regrouped after halftime, taking a more aggressive approach that proved effective. Their first goal came from a brilliant cross-field pass by Gonzalez, which allowed Dedic to set up Anthony Elanga, who skillfully maneuvered inside the box to find the net. Gonzalez shared his tactical insight post-match, revealing that Jaissle had encouraged him to look for such opportunities.
The Magpies added their second goal through an overhead kick from Yoane Wissa, following a corner taken by Sean Steur and a clever flick by Nick Woltemade. The match showcased not only the new talent at Newcastle but also highlighted the resurgence of players like Elanga and Wissa, who had previously faced challenges at the club.
Overall, Newcastle’s victory signifies a positive step forward as they aim to build on this momentum in the ongoing Premier League season.
Sandro Tonali anticipated being “more nervous” than usual about coming up against former club Newcastle United for the first time.
You suspect the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder felt a little sick following their 2-0 defeat on Saturday evening.
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“Sandro, what’s the score?” the away fans taunted in the closing stages as the substituted Italian looked on.
This bruising loss was certainly not the reunion Tonali had in mind after joining Spurs for a fee worth up to £100m last month.
It is still very early days, of course, but Newcastle appear to have reinvested the money wisely after spending a similar combined amount on midfielder Nico Gonzalez, defender Amar Dedic and goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek.
A number of the players head coach Matthias Jaissle inherited, such as goalscorers Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa, also look reborn.
Yet he was rightly not getting carried away following his first Premier League win.
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“We have our own goals and we are clear with that,” Jaissle said. “We are also realistic. Now you write everything is top, everything is great.
“We don’t follow that too much. We are emotionally very stable and don’t see the highs higher than it is now.
“It is a moment to enjoy as well after that start, but we are also smart enough to see a long journey ahead of us and there will be challenges as well.”
‘Commitment and belief makes me proud’
Jaissle, by his own admission, “likes challenges” and this was certainly a big one to take on.
It is exactly 30 days since predecessor Eddie Howe oversaw what proved to be his final match in charge, a sobering 4-1 friendly defeat against Bristol City, before stepping down.
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Newcastle had sold Tonali. Anthony Gordon had left for Barcelona. Captain Bruno Guimaraes’ sights were set on a move to Arsenal.
The start of the season was also rapidly approaching.
Newcastle have made further additions since then, but only one of their seven summer signings, Gonzalez, has previously played in the Premier League.
All of the new arrivals are aged 24 and under.
Yet you would not necessarily know it by the immediate impact full-back Dedic has made following his £30m move from Benfica, or how Hornicek has stood up to the physicality of the Premier League since his £25.7m switch from Braga.
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It could easily be forgotten, given what happened after the break at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Hornicek was among those to play an important role in this win after making three saves at crucial moments in the first half.
No wonder Jaissle clenched his fists on the touchline after Hornicek got a strong hand behind Jan Paul van Hecke’s header.
There was a similarly enthusiastic reaction from the former Hoffenheim defender when Lewis Hall blocked a goalbound effort from Pedro Porro in the first half.
“In the first half, we didn’t play a really good game, but we could really count on everyone throwing everything into every ball and every cross,” Jaissle said.
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“This is the commitment and belief that we can keep the clean sheet, so that makes me proud.”
Training ground move pays off
Although Newcastle defeated Spurs last season, too, there were also a number of games when the visitors wilted in such circumstances.
Newcastle won just four of their 19 top-flight matches on the road and, home or away, they had not previously kept a single clean sheet since March.
However, going in level in their first away day of this campaign gave Newcastle the chance to regroup at half-time.
The visitors sought to be more aggressive after the break and clinically took Spurs apart with their only two shots on target.
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For the first, just as he did in the opening stages, new signing Gonzalez hit a stunning cross field ball over the head of Spurs left-back Andy Robertson for the advancing Dedic to flick on to Elanga, who turned Tonali inside the box and fired the ball in off the post.
“It is something that I spoke about with the coach, even before the game,” Gonzalez said.
“He wanted me to see these kind of balls and I tried a few in the first half and the second half, and we scored.
“In the second half we said, ‘we have to keep doing this’ because it is really hard to defend players like Amar, a full-back that comes this fast from behind. Normally wingers don’t defend these kind of balls very well.
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“It’s something that we have to keep doing and I hope it gives us many more goals this season.”
For Newcastle’s second, Sean Steur’s corner was headed down by fellow substitute Nick Woltemade and Wissa improvised with a clever overhead kick to double his side’s lead.
For all the focus on Newcastle’s new arrivals, it was rather fitting that two players who endured difficult first seasons at the club stepped up under Jaissle once again as Elanga and Wissa built on improved showings against Liverpool on the opening weekend.
“He’s a really dynamic manager so we need to give everything,” Wissa told Sky Sports. “I think he’s the best signing.”
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