Andy Hinchcliffe praises Tottenham star Brennan Johnson for his impactful display against Newcastle
Tottenham Hotspur were beaten for the first time on Sunday in the 2024/25 Premier League season, losing 2-1 away to Newcastle United.
The Lilywhites drew 1-1 at Leicester City in their first game and followed it up by smashing Everton 4-0 at home, but failed to build momentum against Newcastle United. Goals from Harvey Barnes and Alexander Isak were enough to beat Big Ange’s side despite them levelling through a Dan Burn own-goal after 56 minutes.
Tottenham would think they were unfortunate to get a good result on Tyneside, especially after dominating the second half. Among the players who left a mark on the game was Brennan Johnson.
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Despite starting the game on the bench, Brennan Johnson was arguably Spurs’ most influential player on the pitch. His performance at St James’ Park didn’t go unnoticed, with Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe praising the Welsh winger for his impact after coming on at halftime.
“The pace of Johnson gets him away,” Andy Hinchcliffe said live on Sky Sports (h/t Caught Offside).
“It’s just his teammates can’t keep up with him, can’t get into the six-yard box to get on the end of the cross. It’s fair to say Brennan Johnson’s been Tottenham’s best player and he’s only played half the match.”
Hinchcliffe certainly isn’t wrong with his analysis. Brennan Johnson dropped to the bench on Sunday after mixed displays against Leicester City and Everton. However, it only took 45 minutes for Big Ange to bring the 23-year-old on for Pape Sarr to add some much-needed spark in attack, and he duly did.
With his lightning speed, directness and movement, Johnson caused problems for the Newcastle defence. He got the better of Lloyd Kelly on most occasions, leading to the opposition manager Eddie Howe taking him off for Lewis Hall at left-back. The Wales international was involved in Spurs’ equaliser as his shot across the six-yard box was booted by Burn into his own net.
The lack of clinical edge came back to haunt us again, with our team missing Dominic Solanke in the box to bury home the low crosses put in by Johnson from the right. The next assignment for Spurs is the North London derby post-international break, and if Big Ange’s side are to beat Arsenal, we have to be clinical in the box.
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Having said that, Johnson certainly did enough in 45 minutes against Newcastle to stake a claim for a start in the North London derby.
