FA CARLING PREMIERSHIP
SATURDAY AUGUST 26TH, 2000
NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 (1) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0 (0)
Scorers:-
Speed, 9
Cordone, 66
Attendance:- 51,573
Referee:- David Elleray
Teams:-
Newcastle (4-4-2):-Given; Barton, Hughes, Goma, Domi; Solano,
Dyer, Speed, Glass (sub Griffin, 74); Cordone (sub Coppinger, 78),
Shearer (Capt.)
Subs not used:- Harper(GK); Charvet, Gavilan
No bookings
Spurs:- (4-4-2):- Sullivan; Carr, Perry, Campbell (Capt.),
Thatcher (sub Taricco, 70); Anderton, Sherwood, Freund,
Leonhardsen (sub Young, 70); Rebrov, Iversen (sub Ferdinand, 40)
Subs not used:- Walker; Clemence
No bookings
This report comes to you from the lofty heights of the new Sir
John Hall stand, where I mounted 7 flights of stairs, some 380
steps, and where it felt like I needed oxygen and crampons! From
my seat, I could see the Fog on the Tyne, and it seemed like I
could see all the way to Wearside, and the home of the Toon
Army's hated rivals. What I could not see was anything like
competitive football from Spurs, who were always second best, and
in George Graham's words "never likely to score after going
one down".
Honestly, I needed the binoculars that I carried, because it
was like watching Subuteo football from a distance. I hope you'll
forgive me if I get my Domis mixed up with my Gomas, my Dyers
mixed up with my Solanos, and my Shearers confused with Cordone,
because they did look alike from such range. I imagine those of
you watching on the Jumbotron got a better view of most of the
action.
It was a marvellous experience to be in the expanded St James
Park, but the Toon army do not make much noise at home, despite
the size of the crowd. The biggest cheers were reserved for the
entrance of Les Ferdinand, who is clearly still loved up there,
the goals of course, and a frenetic 90 seconds in the second half
where chances fell to both sides.
Spurs, and in particular Thatcher, were cruelly exposed by the
pace and guile of Solano, Dyer, Speed and Cordone, each of whom
had a go at Spurs weak left flank. Leonhardsen didn't seem to be
helping much, and (I quote a fair-minded Newcastle fan) "I've
rarely seen such a poor performance from an opponent". This
was said of Thatcher. Amongst his embarrassing moments was a foul
throw, through simple mis-handling, and a number of inaccurate
passes, together with a tendency to put himself under undue
pressure through the length of time it took him to clear the ball.
In fairness, Perry also had a bit of a mare today, whilst Sol
looked more comfortable. Shearer and Cordone swapped sides, and
Cordone really enjoyed the freedom to work just behind Shearer.
He did all the things we hope for from Rebrov, but Sergei was
pretty quiet.
It took a while for the game to get going, as both sides were
defending high. Barton got an early warning from Elleray for a
foul on Rebrov, but there were to be no cards today. Iversen had
an early chance, having won a throw deep in Newcastle territory,
and then from an Anderton cross, got a glancing touch to the ball
that went wide of the mark. Within two minutes, we were down, as
Speed (looking suspiciously offside to me) ran with ease on to a
long ball from Hughes, and was allowed to chip Sullivan
unchallenged. I thought Sullivan had at least got a touch to the
ball, but replays don't back me up. Barton (as has happened so
often in the past) plagued us with more long balls, and sadly
they generally found his colleagues, as Spurs defensive midfield,
and back four were so slow off the mark. Bobby Robson was
allegedly down to the bare bones of his squad today, but he's a
canny guy, and certainly found the frailties in Spurs. He could
be seen observing the warm-up carefully, and studying the greasy
pitch, and he got 110% out of his side. On the other hand, George
Graham seemed to have approved of trying to play the offside game.
This is dangerous against such pace. George was quoted after the
game as saying "I don't think we should have played offside
so early on. If we are going to play offside, then we should
catch the other side at least 5 yards off." All I can say is
if it wasn't his idea in the first place - whose was it?
Speed could have increased the lead so quickly, as Cordone
turned a Barton long ball into a deep cross from the right. Speed
was unmarked with time to spare but pulled his shot wide of the
post. Anderton nearly equalised with a speculative cross/shot
from deep, which deceived Given and rattled the wood work, but
then Spurs were on the back foot again. On the half-hour, a mix
up in defence gave Shearer space to chip over Sullivan, but
fortunately Sol Campbell had made it back to head clear off the
line.
At last Stephen Carr threatened and got into the box yet again
in a similar position to that from which he scored in the opening
game. This time his pass back reached Leo on the far post with
time on his hands, but he wasted the effort. Ferdinand replaced
Iversen before the break, presumably due to a knock received in a
challenge with Goma.
The pattern resumed in the second half. Steffen Freund (so
often being left to do the defensive duties without support) won
a struggle to put the ball to Anderton, but Anderton gave the
ball away. Shearer was making a beeline for goal, and Perry
seemed to have baulked him unfairly (this from a Spurs fan!), but
Mr Elleray waved away the appeals from the Toon army.
Then came that mad 90 seconds. Spurs did have a brief period
of pressure, and Anderton made a deep cross from the right, that
was returned to the danger zone by Thatcher. Both Leonhardsen and
Freund (Yes - one was on target!) had shots cleared off the line,
before the play quickly went to the other end, where Cordone had
a chance from a tight angle, but hit harmlessly across the goal.
One of the Newcastle players had a bold attempt at an overhead
kick, to no avail.
Shearer nearly scored that elusive 200th league goal, after
Perry brought Cordone down on the edge of the box, and the
skipper's free kick whistled past the post. Cordone then rounded
Sol with too much ease, and Dyer took the ball off him to try a
shot, which Sullivan saved well. Spurs succumbed to the pressure
on 66 minutes, after Cordone converted Solano's run and good work
from close range, despite Sullivan's brave efforts to withhold
the tide.
Freund had a second attempt at goal, from a Thatcher pass, but
this one was wide. Some relief was provide to the beleaguered
Spurs defence, when Thatcher and Leonhardsen were replaced by
Taricco and Young, and Spurs reverted to a back three with Carr
and Taricco playing as wing-backs. Luke Young managed to get
forward as well, but it was all too late. Les Ferdinand did have
a good headed chance from a Carr cross, which he headed into the
ground, and the ball bounced safely over the net. Sherwood nearly
got on the end of a Young cross. Sol Campbell got forward and
after an exchange with Taricco, hit a left foot shot onto the top
of the net from 20 yards.
However at the other end, even new boy Coppinger got into the
act, after he picked up a poor back pass from Anderton to Sol
Campbell, leading to another shot from Dyer and more good work
from Sullivan.
So ended another poor trip to the north-east, and Spurs
slipped from 2nd to 10th in the early season table.
· Squad numbers,appearances,bookings & goalscorers
· Read the preview for this game.
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats
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