Tottenham 1-2 Newcastle: Depleted Spurs' struggles continue after early lead blown in narrow defeat
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Tottenham’s dismal run of form and selection crisis both worsened again as they blew another home lead to lose narrowly 2-1 to Newcastle. In their first Premier League fixture of 2025, Spurs delivered a spirited second-half display against one of the division’s most in-form sides but were unable to prevent another demoralising defeat after Dominic Solanke’s early header was cancelled out quickly and somewhat controversially by Anthony Gordon, with in-form Alexander Isak then striking what proved to be the winning goal before half-time.
Spurs have now won just one of their last eight league games to pile more pressure on under-fire manager Ange Postecoglou, while a sixth successive win for Newcastle across all competitions - their best run of form under Eddie Howe - moves them up to fourth and level on points in the Champions League race with Chelsea, who travel to face Crystal Palace in a London derby later in the day.
Despite a rare week off, Tottenham’s selection crisis had only deepened on Saturday with a sickness bug compounding their ever-lengthening injury list that will now include Destiny Udogie again for the next six weeks after a hamstring injury sustained in the chaotic 2-2 draw with Wolves last weekend.
Third-choice goalkeeper Brandon Austin made a long-awaited competitive debut for the club nine years after joining with No2 option Fraser Forster ill and No1 Guglielmo Vicario still sidelined, while Timo Werner made his first start since being hooked at half-time and publicly criticised by Postecoglou during last month’s Europa League draw at Rangers.
