Newcastle 5-1 SpursGeorginio Wijnaldum leads Newcastle in astonishing rout of Tottenham
Home team scorersGeorginio Wijnaldum 19
Aleksandar Mitrovic 39
Georginio Wijnaldum 73 Pen
Rolando Aarons 85
Daryl Janmaat 86
Away team scorersErik Lamela 60
In the process Aleksandar Mitrovic created one goal, scored another and was sent off for a truly appalling challenge as Tottenham Hotspur’s chances of finishing above Arsenal for the first time since 1995 were shredded. Mauricio Pochettino’s players needed only a point to finish second but ended up third and looking anything but a team capable of competing in next season’s Champions League.
Talk about loyalty. Newcastle may have tumbled into the Championship in the wake of an abject season but they were still politely applauded on to the field before kick-off. If part of that was probably about old habits dying hard, a bigger reason was the ‘Keep Rafa’ agenda.
It meant that, rather than indulging in ‘sack the board’ chants, home fans held up placards proclaiming: “Rafa the Gaffa. Please stay. The Toon need you”. Such messages were backed by an incessant two-word soundtrack set to the tune of La Bamba. “Rafa Benítez, Rafa Benítez,” fans chorused, with the volume being raised appreciably once Gini Wijnaldum gave Newcastle the lead.
Spurs had begun in unusually jaded mode with the usually excellent Toby Alderweireld making a hash of an attempted clearance and the ball falling to Moussa Sissoko who played in Mitrovic. The Serbia striker’s deft lay-off duly found Wijnaldum who shot low into the bottom corner from around 12 yards. It was the Dutchman’s 10th goal of a season he had started so brightly before sinking almost without trace into a prolonged mid-winter slump which hardly enhanced his side’s survival chances.
Fortunately for Wijnaldum, the crowd were clearly in forgiving mood and the Gallowgate End, briefly celebrated with a few blasts of “Stand up if you love the Toon” before reverting to their previous refrain.
Their mood was barely dampened by the sight of a small aeroplane circling the skies above them trailing a large banner emblazoned with the message ’Auf Weidersehen Prem: Tyne to go’. It offered proof that some people really do have more money than sense - there are surely much better ways to spend the best part of £1,000. Indeed the sight of a series of passenger aircraft freshly taken off from Newcastle airport also rising high above the stadium served as a reminder they could have bought a return ticket to Australia for a similar price.
Their top-tier exit dictates the eyes of the wider world will no longer be on the city’s football club next season but at least Benítez’s players were going out on a high, scoring a second goal before half-time.
Sissoko delivered a fabulous cross from the right and, having beaten both Alderweireld and Kyle Walker to the ball, Mitrovic evaded Hugo Lloris’s reach courtesy of an imperious header. Loud as the resultant applause was it seemed underscored by a certain sadness; a sense of what might have been.
Evidently missing the suspended Dele Alli and Mousa Dembélé and presumably still shattered by losing out to Leicester in the title race, Spurs had created a solitary first-half chance. It involved Karl Darlow, Newcastle’s goalkeeper, doing well to block a fierce shot from Christian Eriksen after the Dane had been smartly set up by Harry Kane.
Pochettino responded by replacing Ryan Mason and Heung-min Son with Josh Onomah and Tom Carroll at the interval. The newcomers were greeted by a variation on an old them. “We want you to stay,” echoed around the ground. “Rafa Benítez, we want you to stay.”
At least the newcomers imbued the visitors with a bit of impetus and with the prospect of the point required to remain above Arsenal receding in the rear view mirror Spurs rallied. They reduced the deficit when Kane and Eric Dier combined to free Érik Lamela down the left. Initially it looked as if Lamela would cross but instead, from a seemingly impossible angle, he unleashed a shot which beat Darlow at his near post, the ball deflecting off the keeper and into the roof of the net.
If Darlow might have been less than delighted about that concession, Mitrovic should have been disgusted with himself for an appallingly reckless high, over the top, challenge which caught Walker on the shin and could easily have resulted a broken leg for the England right-back. While Mitrovic was rightly shown a red card a limping Walker was swiftly replaced by Nacer Chadli.
This being a perverse sort of afternoon Newcastle’s reaction to being reduced to 10 men was to extend their lead. When Sissoko’s long legs took him on a gallop into the penalty area Eriksen obligingly brought him down - some said Sissoko dived - and Wijnaldum duly sent Lloris the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Newcastle were still far from done. Andros Townsend hit a post, Daryl Janmaat crossed and Rolando Aarons, on as a substitute, half-volleyed a brilliant goal. Turning creator, Aarons’s pass then picked out the overlapping Janmaat whose low shot defied Lloris.
Guardian
