Well who saw that coming? The Steve Bruce era is alive and well as Newcastle got their first win of the season against Tottenham.
It was a defensive masterclass from the Magpies, who went ahead in the 27th minute thanks to Joelinton. The Brazilian deserved his first Newcastle goal and proved a lot of people wrong in the process.
But who else performed in the sweltering heat in orange? Here are our player ratings for Newcastle’s 1-0 win over Spurs.
Martin Dubravka 7/10
The number one actually had a pretty quiet afternoon. While Tottenham saw a lot of the ball, Dubravka was hardly tested thanks to his defenders. His save to deny Son Heung-min late in the first half was the highlight of his afternoon.
Fabian Schar 8/10
He was all over the place against Norwich, but this was Schar back to his best. Some excellently timed tackles combined with composure on the ball at key times.
Jamaal Lascelles 8/10
Other than a scary moment where he nearly conceded a penalty to Harry Kane, the skipper was immense. Lascelles dealt with everything that came his way. Hopefully the injury he picked up doesn’t keep him out of next week’s game.
Paul Dummett 10/10
Man of the match. What a performance. A far cry from the lad who was told he wouldn’t be good enough to play in the Premier League. Dummett was colossal and a real leader. Sniffed out every bit of danger and didn’t put a foot wrong.
Emil Krafth 6/10
After a rough debut, this was a lot better by Krafth. However, there were still some moments when he had fans panicking. A couple of dodgy clearances almost caused bother, but the Swede was good enough and a massive improvement on last week.
Isaac Hayden 8/10
A busy afternoon where he hardly got on the ball, but Hayden still made some key challenges and disrupted Tottenham’s rhythm in the middle of the park.
Sean Longstaff 7/10
Recalled to the team after being dropped, Longstaff looked more like the player he was last season. Almost scored but for a fine save from Hugo Lloris. However, there were times when he was sloppy is possession. Evidence that he still isn’t back to 100% sharpness.
Matt Ritchie 8/10
A typical Matt Ritchie performance. Energetic and disciplined.
Miguel Almiron 8/10
We saw another side to Almiron’s game today. While he’s exciting going forward, he was brilliantly going backwards. Danny Rose is a very attacking left-back, but Almiron matched him and really helped out Krafth.
Allan Saint-Maximin 5/10
An early injury ruined his first start for the club. Saint-Maximin barely got a kick, struggling to latch onto a quick free kick by Ritchie early on.
Joelinton 9/10
Everything that went wrong against Norwich went right against Tottenham for Joelinton. He worked incredibly hard and held it up well, while also bringing his teammates into the attack.
And his goal was fantastic. A brilliant piece of movement, exquisite first touch, capped off with a wonderful finish.
Subs: Christian Atsu 7/10, Federico Fernandez NA, Yoshinori Muto NA.
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