Newcastle vs Tottenham match report: Harry Kane gets Spurs back to winning ways

Newcastle 1 Tottenham 3

Martin Hardy
Sunday 19 April 2015 22:18 BST
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Harry Kane scores Tottenham's third
Harry Kane scores Tottenham's third

By the time Harry Kane had finished the celebration that followed his 20th Premier League goal of the season, one that had pushed Tottenham back up into sixth place, St James’ Park was once more empty, bar the celebrating away fans.

That has been the theme for the last three miserable campaigns. There is a natural generosity to the spirit of most Geordies, but it has been taken to an extreme. In that time Newcastle have lost 23 times at home in the league. Yes, 23 times in just under three seasons.

They are back on the cusp of a relegation fight once more, for the third time since Mike Ashley took over the club.

As has been the case for the vast majority of his eight-year tenure, yesterday was as much about what was happening off the pitch as on it.

In the shadow of the Gallowgate End, near the former city gallows, stood the condemned men and women, around 500 of them, who refused to enter the stadium to watch their team play. Some of them had season tickets they had paid for.

Inside the ground were vast sections of empty seats – including that of the owner – a visible sign of the unrest in the region.

The official attendance (which includes the season-ticket holders who did not attend) was given as 47,427. In reality it was probably nearer to the 40,000 mark. Those pushing the protest, through the website AshleyOut.com, will use the Freedom of Information Act to find out the true number. That is what Newcastle United have become.

The anger and the apathy – and there is a toxic mixture of both – will not cause too much consternation for those in control at Newcastle, but you cannot imagine television companies rushing to book many of their future games.

Christian Eriksen celebrates Spurs' second

It is a club without stardust or direction; the half-hearted nature of much of the home side’s play, especially in the second half, the lack of atmosphere and the pre-season friendly feel do not make great television.

The Sky pundit Jamie Carragher would express the sentiment of that support as accurately as anyone. “I’m sick of owners coming in,” he said. “People would say supporters have to come back but what are the owners doing for the supporters? Is he not bored? There is no excitement at Newcastle. Nothing is going to happen. I don’t get it.”

Newcastle are a hard club to get right now, though not for opposing teams.

For the second time in the history of the Premier League, they lost a sixth successive game. It first happened last season, at the same dismal stage, when Alan Pardew was in the manager’s seat.

Losing Pardew – and not enough has been made of why a manager would choose Crystal Palace over Newcastle – is not the reason for the demise. It runs much deeper than that, but it is the willingness to drift, to write off seasons, that is causing much consternation, along with the player sales and the lack of quality replacements.

Newcastle have won once in their last 10 games. They have scored five times in that run. They have picked up nine points from the 42 available since John Carver took over from Pardew. It is not even a limp to the finish line. There is no heart, and no great talent in the team.

For much of the second half Tottenham were in cruise control. Newcastle did not feel like a side Carver admitted are now looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone. They looked like a group of men deciding what shorts they would be wearing to the beach.

“We’ve had good conversation with all the staff,” Carver said. “Hopefully, I can find a solution. There’s nobody going to land from Mars with a spaceship-load of players. I said to the guys in the dressing room that we have to deal with it and sort out the situation.

“It’s a huge kick in the teeth at home. You have to look over your shoulder to see what’s going on. The one thing about my team is they keep going, but sometimes they might not be good enough.”

There is much about Newcastle that is not good enough. The empty seats and the fans protesting outside found vindication, once more, in the performance, which was insipid.

On the half-hour mark Nacer Chadli was given the time to pick his spot, 25 yards from goal, unchallenged, so he did, striking his shot beyond Tim Krul.

Newcastle equalised 21 seconds into the second half, through Jack Colback, but that merely motivated Spurs to move up a level, and once they did the game was over.

In the 53rd minute Christian Eriksen’s inswinging free-kick from the left beat everyone, including Krul. It was a soft goal, but Newcastle are a soft team.

There were fine chances for Kane, Erik Lamela and Federico Fazio to kill the game. They did not take them, but when, in injury time, the opportunity to run from the halfway line came Kane’s way, he took it with aplomb, stroking his right-footed shot into the bottom corner of Krul’s goal.

Newcastle used to have goalscorers and heroes. They don’t any more.

Kane’s goal was his 30th of the season; he is the first Tottenham player to reach that mark in 23 years.

“I’m very proud but there’s still five games left so, hopefully, I can get a few more goals and it doesn’t stop here,” he said. “We deserved it. We played very well but the most important thing is that we keep winning games.”

Winning. It is a forgotten art for those at Newcastle.

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