By Obaloluwa Joshua, LAGOS
Newcastle United claimed their first Premier League victory of the season after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Second-half goals from Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa secured all three points for the Magpies after the hosts had dominated large periods of the opening half.
Tottenham started brightly and created a number of opportunities but were repeatedly denied by Newcastle goalkeeper Lukáš Horníček and some determined defending.
Mathys Tel was among the first to threaten for Spurs, cutting inside from the left before seeing his curling effort pushed away by Horníček.
Pedro Porro also went close to breaking the deadlock, but Lewis Hall produced an excellent last-ditch block to divert his close-range effort over the crossbar.
Horníček was called into action again before the break, keeping out Andy Robertson’s low drive from a tight angle before reacting quickly to deny Jan Paul van Hecke from the resulting corner.
Newcastle also threatened occasionally at the other end, with Harvey Barnes firing over from the edge of the penalty area after being released by Wissa.
Despite Tottenham’s superiority and a succession of chances, both teams went into the interval with the scoreline still goalless.
Spurs continued to push after the restart, with debutant Omar Marmoush going down in the Newcastle penalty area following a challenge from Malick Thiaw. The referee, however, waved away the home side’s appeals.
Marmoush then went close to opening the scoring on the hour mark, driving forward before sending a dipping effort narrowly wide of the far post.
Newcastle punished Tottenham for their missed opportunities two minutes later.
Nico González picked out Amar Dedić with an excellent diagonal pass, and the full-back headed the ball into Elanga’s path.
The Sweden international turned away from Sandro Tonali before sending a low effort towards the far post. The ball struck the upright, rolled along the goal-line and eventually crossed to give Newcastle the lead in the 62nd minute.
Tottenham attempted to respond, but Mathys Tel wasted a promising free-kick opportunity as the hosts struggled to rediscover their first-half rhythm.
Newcastle doubled their advantage in the 73rd minute following a corner.
Substitute Nick Woltemade headed the delivery down at the far post and Wissa, with his back to goal, produced an acrobatic finish to hook the ball beyond Antonín Kinský.
The victory gave Matthias Jaissle his first Premier League win as Newcastle manager following their 2-2 draw with Liverpool in their opening game of the campaign.
It was another disappointing outing for Tottenham, who have now lost their opening two league matches without scoring a goal after suffering a 3-0 defeat at Brentford on the opening weekend.
