Newcastle vs. Tottenham player ratings: Romero overhead stunner earns point
Tottenham ended their losing run in remarkable circumstances at Newcastle United, as Cristian Romero's brace earned Spurs a 2â2 draw at St. James' Park.
Thomas Frank's random lineup generator chucked up another belter on Tyneside, with the Dane once again leaving Xavi Simons on the bench, bringing Brennan Johnson back in out of nowhere, and opting to give Micky van de Ven a rest.
Playing under the lights at St. James' is hard, and Frank's primary ploy of punting the ball into the general vicinity of Mohammed Kudus was initially no match for the savvy and aggressive hosts. It was all Newcastle early, with Spurs struggling to bypass the halfway line, and Lewis Miley ought to have handed the Magpies the lead before Joelinton hit the post with a fine effort.
Spurs' start was bleak, but as was the case in the Carabao Cup tie, we grew into the contest towards the end of the first half. Finally winning first and second balls helped, while Lucas Bergvall and Kudus supplied some attacking inspiration. Still, it was the fourth Premier League game in a row without a first-half shot on target.
Newcastle's early second-half storm was just about weathered, and spells of actual possession relatively near Aaron Ramsdale's goal offered hope that Spurs may well get something from this game.
And somehow, we did. Was it anything Frank did? Not really. Newcastle's second goal was unjust, a nonsense penalty, and even though the hosts were probably the deserving winners on the balance of play, there was a sense of justice being earned when Romero shinned an overhead kick past former Gunner Aaron Ramsdale.
A point, but what does it all mean?
Newcastle 2â2 Tottenham player ratings
Goalkeeper & Defenders
Guglielmo Vicario (GK): 6.5/10 â No clean sheet, but bounced back well from Saturday. Safe hands throughout.
Pedro Porro (RB): 5.5/10 â Struggled one-on-one all night, no matter who was out there. But, I thought he defended the back post pretty well.
Cristian Romero (CB): 8/10 â What. The. ****
Kevin Danso (CB): 7/10 â There was some good emergency defending on display from Danso, but some of his work on the ball was awkward at best. Still, Van de Ven's presence wasn't sorely missed.
Destiny Udogie (LB): 5/10 â Pretty messy from the left-back, who didn't venture forward all that much and struggled to combined with his teammates.
Continued on the next slide...