Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes celebrate after the match.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Newcastle United's striker Alexander Isak secured a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur with a simple tap-in as they weathered a second-half storm from the visitors to secure the points in an entertaining Premier League clash at St James’ Park on Sunday.
Harvey Barnes’ first-half opener for Newcastle was cancelled out by a Dan Burn own goal after the break as Spurs dominated the chances in the second period but spurned numerous openings and were beaten by a lightning-quick break from the hosts.
Joelinton’s defence-splitting pass was perfect for Jacob Murphy who, after drawing out keeper Guglielmo Vicario, laid the ball on a plate for Isak to secure the three points for manager Eddie Howe’s side, who remain unbeaten at home since January.
Adding to Newcastle's delight, their Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali made his first league appearance since being handed a 10-month ban for a breach of betting rules and received a rapturous reception from the home supporters.
Newcastle now have seven points from their first three games, while Tottenham remain on four.
"Generally we weren't expecting to have too much of the ball," Isak told Sky Sports. "We wanted to be dangerous on the counter-attack. It wasn't the most beautiful game from our side but we defended really well and scored two so that's good.
"You always have to be concentrated. It's easy to get frustrated. It was a tough game and tough for me - I wasn't at my sharpest."
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou was left to rue the scoreline but not the performance as his side had complete control of the contest for long periods.
"It got away from us unfortunately," the Australian said. "We had the chances to win the game, probably comfortably, but we walk away with nothing so it's a bitter pill to swallow."
Isak struck the woodwork with an early chance before Newcastle took the lead against the run of play after 37 minutes.
A quick throw-in allowed Lloyd Kelly to fire in a low cross from the left which was superbly guided into the far corner by Barnes.
The visitors levelled when Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope failed to deal with a James Maddison shot and pushed the ball to Brennan Johnson, whose effort was cleared into his own net by Burn.
Tottenham continued to pepper the Newcastle goal but it was the hosts who found the winner thanks to the vision of Joelinton and composure of Murphy to set up Sweden international Isak.