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Toon complete perfect nine days on Tyneside! - Newcastle 2-0 Spurs

by Olly Hawkins ·
Toon complete perfect nine days on Tyneside! - Newcastle 2-0 Spurs

Another big home win for Newcastle United and a major step towards defending our League Cup crown, as a 2-0 win over Spurs sent us into the quarter finals where a mid-December clash with Fulham awaits.

It was a strong performance and another momentum-building night on Tyneside, featuring goals from Fabian Schar and Nick Woltemade, rare starts for a few fringe men, a Sandro Tonali masterclass and enough chances to score three or four.

That's now Eddie Howe's 17th win in 19 Carabao Cup games at the club and TEN in a row in this competition at St James' Park, making it the perfect nine days on Tyneside after wins over Benfica, Fulham and Spurs; who hadn't lost on the road this season before tonight.

Howe made EIGHT changes from Saturday's 2-1 win over Fulham, seeing Ramsdale, Krafth, Schar, Tonali, Ramsey, Willock, Barnes and Elanga replace Pope, Trippier, Botman, Miley, Bruno, Joelinton, Gordon and Murphy.

Newcastle XI: Ramsdale - Krafth, Thiaw, Schar, Burn (c) - Ramsey, Tonali, Willock - Elanga, Woltemade, Barnes.

Subs: Pope, Trippier, Botman, Joelinton, Guimaraes, Miley, Gordon, Murphy, Osula.

Spurs XI: Kinsky - Porro, Danso, Paulinha, Spencer - Bergvall, Sarr, Bentancur - Johnson, Richarlison, Simons.

The standouts were a rare rest for Bruno, starts for Ramsdale, Krafth and Willock, along with big chances to impress for the likes of Ramsey, Elanga and Barnes.

We were comfortably the better side in the opening 10 minutes, where Elanga's cut-back for Willock and Ramsey's clever run both ended in goal-bound shots that were met by crucial blocks from the Spurs back line, with Thiaw making a superb intervention of his own at the other end to stop Richarlison before he gave it large to the Gallowgate End!

Moments later, another sweeping move from right to left involving Elanga and Woltemade created an opening for Barnes, who fired his effort into the side netting. No goal yet, but really positive signs early on as we tried to capitalise on a lively start.

Then came the breakthrough, and it was deserved! Elanga burst past Spence, forced a corner as his cross was cleared out and Tonali's delivery was met by Schar, who climbed highest and headed into the corner to hand us the lead on his return to Howe's XI.


1-0 Newcastle and we had to keep pushing, with our high tempo and aggression not allowing the away side to settle to this point. However, Spurs did start to settle into it before the break, enjoying more possession and seeing a few dangerous balls clash across the box after a few slick moves.

Despite that, it was us who came closest to grabbing the second, as a Tonali cross found Thiaw just six yards out. The German couldn't get his effort on goal, but his attempt fell to Barnes who crashed a close range bicycle kick off the bar! A big chance to make it 2-0 in a strong first half, which ended with a cynical Thiaw yellow and Richarlison header that was thankfully hit straight at Ramsdale.

We'd had enough chances to score two or three, but the visitors were starting to get a foothold in a game that we had to get back under control heading into the second half, which started with a big chance for Willock. Barnes' cross was superb from the left, but Willock's header was totally miscued after he arrived in space at the back post.

Willock would soon make up for his miss, however, as two pieces of brilliant defending from Thiaw not only stopped Richarlison breaking into our box but got us back on the attack at the other end. Willock picked it up from the German, floated in and found big Nick in the box, seeing Woltemade head into an empty net after Kinsky completely misread the cross.


Woltemade's sixth goal in a black and white shirt and a massive moment in the match to double our lead, which was kept to two thanks to a stunning save on the hour mark from Ramsdale, who got down low quickly to tip Sarr's shot wide.

A warning sign that this wasn't over yet arrived as Richarlison tested Ramsdale with another header, and Howe reacted soon after with three changes, seeing Osula, Joelinton and Trippier replace Woltemade, Willock and Krafth with 70 minutes on the clock.

At this point, it felt like a third for Newcastle was more likely than Spurs pulling a goal back, as Schar's cross to Elanga was flashed back across the box and cleared by Danso,

Bruno and Gordon also entered the field late on, where we toyed with Spurs at times with some lovely pieces of possession play, with Tonali continuing to run the show while others faded, summing up his incredible mixture of technical ability and tenacity.

Some late bookings were dished out as Joelinton (who else?!) got into a unnecessary scuffle with Kudus, and that was the final flashpoint as Newcastle saw out a comfortable and confidence-boosting 2-0 win.

Ramsdale was razor sharp in goal, Schar emphatic on his return, Thiaw commanding once again, Ramsey looked sharp and it was Willock's best game for some time, with Barnes and Elanga also causing problems without bagging a goal or assist.

Next up, a trip to an out of sorts West Ham on Sunday in a game that could be key to resetting our away-day struggles!

Both teams observe a minute's silence ahead of Remembrance Day
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