Tottenham lost 2-1 to Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday and here are our Spurs player ratings.
Ange Postecoglou had 10 players unavailable to face Eddie Howe’s in-form side due to injury, suspension and an illness bug that had worked its way through the Spurs squad. The 59-year-old has lost goalkeeper Fraser Forster to the bug with Brandon Austin coming in for his Tottenham debut just a few days shy of his 26th birthday.
Dominic Solanke opened the scoring by heading in Pedro Porro’s deep cross after a good run from Lucas Bergvall. Anthony Gordon levelled soon after with a low finish but only after Bergvall’s pass had been cut out by Joelinton’s hand. The Tottenham players and Postecoglou were left livid by the decision.
Alexander Isak put Newcastle ahead not long before the break when Radu Dragusin could only turn a low cross against the striker and in.
Spurs lost their only fit centre-back Radu Dragusin at half-time but pushed for an equaliser in the season half, with Brennan Johnson hitting the woodwork but they could not find a way past Martin Dubravka again.
Here are our Tottenham player ratings:
Brandon Austin
Got a big cheer from the crowd when he claimed Newcastle’s first corner. Couldn’t get to Gordon’s low finish but did save from the same player not long after. Saved from Barnes in added time. His footwork and handling was pretty clean throughout on his debut. 7
Pedro Porro
Hit a perfect cross for Solanke to head home. Had plenty to deal with down his flank but dealt with most of it. 7
Radu Dragusin
Switched off a bit expecting the handball decision that never came. Was unfortunate in deflected a low cross against Isak and in. Was rumoured to be one of those ill players and came off at half-time. 5
Archie Gray
Another impressive display as a centre-back from the 18-year-old as he dealt with pretty much everything thrown at him. 7
Djed Spence
Spent the first half as a left-back before switching to centre-back when Dragusin went off at the break to make it 11 unavailable players. Can’t really fault him as he covered both positions that aren’t natural to him. 7
Pape Matar Sarr
Plenty of hustle but low on quality before coming off at the hour mark. 5
Lucas Bergvall
Made a driving run in the build-up to Solanke’s early goal. Was unfortunate that his pass hit the hand of Joelinton which led to Gordon’s equaliser. Put in a driving display throughout. A really positive performance from the teenager and his substitution on the hour mark for Maddison brought boos around the stadium. He’ll probably start again on Wednesday night. 8
Dejan Kulusevski
Captain for the day and he worked hard but without his usual effectiveness apart from a cross that Solanke headed over. 6
Brennan Johnson
A quiet first half but did hit the post early in the second period. Fired a shot across goal later on when he should have got it on target. 5
Dominic Solanke
Did really well to get in to dive and head home his early goal. Battled away and had further chances but couldn’t get the ball past Dubravka again. 7
Timo Werner
Made a few runs to the byline but couldn’t find any quality on the end of it. 4
Subs
Sergio Reguilon
Came on for the second half for Dragusin and did pretty well considering how little football he’s played. 7
Son Heung-min
Made a couple of threatening runs but couldn’t find a way though. 5
Yves Bissouma
Did well when he came on to mop up plenty in the midfield. 7
James Maddison
Fizzed a shot just wide from outside the Newcastle box and tried to make things happen when he came on. 6
