Tottenham are now rock-bottom in the Premier League after losing 2-0 to Newcastle United at home.
Second-half goals by Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa helped Newcastle United inflict a second consecutive defeat of the Premier League season on Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs head coach Roberto De Zerbi fielded five of his new additions, and Omar Marmoush, on a season-long loan from Manchester City, went close during a first half where the hosts were the better team. As has been the problem for the last couple of seasons, the North Londoners lacked the cutting edge again in the final third.
That came back to bite Roberto De Zerbi’s side, and of all players, Sandro Tonali, who was booed by the travelling Newcastle United supporters, switched off to allow Elanga to open the scoring in the 62nd minute. 10 minutes later, the Magpies sealed the deal via Wissa, who scored from substitute Nick Woltemade’s header.
Roberto De Zerbi thinks Tottenham were unlucky against Newcastle United
It was another chastening result for Roberto De Zerbi, whose expensively assembled team suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at Brentford in the opening game of the season last weekend. The Lilywhites’ defensive problems were exposed again, while club-record signing Tonali’s struggles in the middle of the park continued.
Despite Tottenham’s troubles, De Zerbi is confident they can bounce back and regain their fans’ trust. The Italian tactician thinks his team were the better team for 65 minutes and did not deserve to lose to Newcastle United.
“I think for 65 minutes we played better than Newcastle, we had a chance to score and didn’t score. And then after the goal we lost the distances,” De Zerbi said in an interview with Sky Sports (h/t BBC Sport).
“We created other chances, but if you analyse the game, we had more chances, more shots, we are not a team yet and have to improve on a lot of things, but that is normal for a new team.
“Forget the result. I am not angry, we are working well and were unlucky today with the result.
“We had more control of the ball, we can improve in the defensive phase with the distances. Sometimes we regained the ball and had chances to score, and also with the ball we can improve and keep it much better, but it is part of this work when you change many players and start a new project with a new team.”
Tottenham deserved something from the game
If we exclude the opening couple of minutes of the game, Spurs were the better side of the two and played some nice stuff. The quick passing and movement of the players was exciting to watch. Rodrigo Bentancur looked calm in possession, Mateus Fernandes thrived as a No.10, and Omar Marmoush showed promising signs leading the Spurs attack on his debut.
The home side overcomplicated passes at times and were naïve in possession. Newcastle, on the other hand, often made the pitch big and overloaded the flanks with diagonals. This tactic of Matthias Jaissle worked brilliantly and became the recipe for the Magpies’ opener. The Tottenham players pushed for a response but could not find a way through; instead, we ended up conceding again.
Overall, it was a much-improved display than the one served at Brentford. We echo De Zerbi’s sentiments that our players were unlucky to not get anything out of this fixture. It clearly demonstrates that this team under De Zerbi is a work in progress, and with more time and relationships on the pitch, things will get better.
