Alexander Isak scored twice as Newcastle earned an emphatic 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park on Saturday.
With Aston Villa not in action until they face Premier League title contenders Arsenal on Sunday, Spurs were hoping to cement their place in the top four. Instead, Ange Postecoglou’s side dropped to fifth (on goal difference) after a demolition job from the injured Magpies.
Quickfire first-half tries from Isak and the excellent Anthony Gordon put Eddie Howe’s side in control.
Isak doubled his tally after half-time, with Fabian Schar’s towering header in the closing stages adding further gloss to a comprehensive victory that further boosted the hosts’ European hopes.
Timo Werner spurned two fantastic early chances for Spurs, curling wide on both occasions after good work from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison respectively.
His disrespect proved costly on the half hour.
How did the match go?
Having brilliantly won a long ball, Gordon fed a pass to Isak, who coolly sent Micky van de Ven down before impressively curling home his 20th goal of the season in all competitions.
Gordon was turning from provider to goalscorer as Newcastle doubled their tally 95 seconds later – the former Everton winger latched on to Pedro Porro’s formidable chip, calmly rounding Van de Ven’s unstoppable rebound effort and smashing home from close range.
![Gordon's shot shortly after in the 32nd minute](https://resources.premierleague.com/photos/2024/04/13/d9d2af11-0539-4bb9-b4b8-216800804452/gordon-tot-goal.jpg?width=1400&height=800)
![Gordon's shot shortly after in the 32nd minute](https://resources.premierleague.com/photos/2024/04/13/d9d2af11-0539-4bb9-b4b8-216800804452/gordon-tot-goal.jpg?width=1400&height=800)
Porro’s run was cut short soon after the restart – the Spurs full-back forced off with an apparent hamstring injury, which he suffered as he broke through to deny Issac a second from a well-worked set piece.
There was no doubting the Swede in the 51st minute, though – Isak latched on to Bruno Guimaraes’ superb pass over a Spurs high line before keeping his composure to slide another superb finish past Guglielmo Vicario.
![isak 2nd goal](https://resources.premierleague.com/photos/2024/04/13/9b1f60ee-62f7-4aa2-93bf-2dc98e13fdc6/isak-2nd-tot-goal.jpg?width=1400&height=800)
![isak 2nd goal](https://resources.premierleague.com/photos/2024/04/13/9b1f60ee-62f7-4aa2-93bf-2dc98e13fdc6/isak-2nd-tot-goal.jpg?width=1400&height=800)
Newcastle wanted a penalty for handball from Emerson Royal but none was given by referee Tim Robinson.
Not that Newcastle needed any help from the referee as, after Emil Krafth had hit the post, Schar rounded off a superb display with a fantastic header from Gordon’s corner as the Magpies avenged a 4-1 reverse defeat game and moved. temporarily at least, in sixth place.
Isak on a roll
Isak has now scored 12 goals in as many Premier League appearances at St James’ Park this season. His first start saw him become the fourth player to score in six consecutive Premier League home games for Newcastle, with only Andrew Cole (eight) and Alan Shearer (15) having longer runs, with Issac now equals Les Ferdinand’s best such streak.
The 24-year-old now has 17 league goals for the season – the same as Mohamed Salah and behind only Ollie Watkins (18) and Erling Haaland (19) in the race for the Golden Boot. The only other Swede to have scored as many Premier League goals in one season as Isak has this term is the great Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored 17 times for Manchester United in 2016-17.
Isak also loves to score against Tottenham, having scored twice in the 6-1 thrashing of Spurs at St James’ Park in April last year and is the first Newcastle player to hit 20+ goals in all competitions since the great Shearer club returned in the 2003-04 Campaign.
Van de Ven’s day to forget
Van de Ven had a superb debut season at Spurs following his arrival from Wolfsburg last year, but the flying Dutchman was red-hot for Newcastle’s first-half goals.
Having flown in to try and deny Isak, only to slip at the vital moment, Van de Ven was caught by Gordon less than two minutes later.
He atoned with a fantastic sliding block to prevent Isak from adding a third quick-fire goal, but it was a rare off-day for the defender, who was left again by the Newcastle striker for the Magpies’ third goal in what was another a miserable trip to Tyneside for Tottenham.
The club reports
Basic elements
Only Liverpool (42), Arsenal (38) and Manchester City (38, before today’s game) have taken more points in Premier League home games this season than Newcastle (36).
Tottenham have now conceded 61 Premier League goals against Newcastle at St James’ Park, conceding more in just one away game in the competition (64 at Anfield).
Each of Tottenham’s last three Premier League defeats by 4+ goals have come against Newcastle at St James’ Park – also 1-5 in May 2016 and 1-6 in April 2023. Indeed, they have now lost by 4 + goals by Newcastle more often than they have against any other opponent in Premier League history (5).
Newcastle have scored 93 Premier League goals against Tottenham, more than against any other opposition in the competition. Meanwhile, today was their first home clean sheet against Spurs in 18 home league games since a 4-0 win in December 2003.