CRISTIAN ROMERO’S spectacular bicycle kick rescued Tottenham and lifted the pressure on Thomas Frank.
The Argentinian grabbed a 95th-minute equaliser to earn a draw at Toon – just after it looked like Rodrigo Bentancur’s stupidity had cost them.
Spurs looked set for a point after Romero levelled Bruno Guimaraes’ strike.
But Bentancur’s wrestling match with Dan Burn looked to have left Spurs empty-handed after Anthony Gordon slotted home the penalty.
Yet he, and Frank, were saved at the death by the spectacular Romero.
Newcastle, sensing the vulnerability of the visitors early on, attempted to steam straight into them.
Lewis Hall nicked it off Pape Matar Sarr and dragged a shot wide before Nick Woltemade got his first sniff, heading wide from Jacob Murphy’s cross.
Despite the troubles within the camp, Spurs were not here to roll over. And Toon had Hall to thank as he denied Mohammed Kudus a tap in from Brennan Johnson’s dart forward and low cross.
Whatever you want to say about Tottenham and Thomas Frank, they were definitely up for the fight here, matching the Mags’ physicality at every opportunity in the first half.
The already under-pressure Dane stood barking orders on the touchline throughout. Though, just like Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven after the Chelsea defeat, his men were barely acknowledging him.
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And he had his head in his hands when Kudus’ decision to play keepie-up in his own half gifted the hosts another opportunity.
The impressive Hall aggressively stole it off the Ghanian, feeding it to Woltemade down the left of the box, but Murphy fired high and wide.
Another man with the spotlight on him was Guglielmo Vicario. Frank slammed fans for booing him following his gaffe against Fulham.
But he got down low to his left in his first call to action here, stopping Lewis Miley’s 20-yarder after Barnes outpowered Bergvall.
Still, despite the Mags enjoying most of the play, aggressive Spurs were battling hard – especially against Toon’s own midfield hardman Joelinton.
The Brazilian appeared to be the No1 target for the away side, with Cristian Romero going into the book for a foul midway through before the 29-year-old was bundled over by Rodrigo Bentancur
Vicario must have been relieved. His team-mates were doing everything to protect him, though it was the woodwork that came to his rescue on 35 minutes.
Joelinton slipped in down the right and his low strike went right across the Italian only to agonisingly bounce back off the inside of the post.
Still, Spurs offered their hardy travelling fans up in the heavens of the Leazes End hope when Bergvall’s backheeled flick from Kudus just flopped over the bar.
The locals, meanwhile, were restless, and they vented their fury at Vicario when the game was stopped just before the break as he appeared to complain that he had been struck by something thrown from the crowd.
Whether that was from the Spurs fans high up above him or the Toon Army, who knows, but more jeers met the half time whistle.
Rather than head straight in to hear from Frank, the Tottenham players gathered for a brief huddle in the centre circle before heading into the changing room.
They had ridden the storm, matched the aggression, and looked set to continue disrupting the rhythm of Eddie Howe’s side.
But it did not last. Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes, a surprise omission for the second straight game, replaced Sandro Tonali and suddenly Toon had more bite.
Barnes powered through the defence and had a shot saved by Vicario, Woltemade headed the rebound towards goal but Kevin Danso was there to clear off the line.
Then it was Johnson’s turn to be the saviour, blocking Tino Livramento’s fierce 25-yard half-volley a yard out.
Maybe, just maybe, Tottenham are learning after failing to get anyone on the line to deny either of Fulham’s goals at the weekend.
Toon’s momentum was building, and suddenly Howe smelt blood. On came Anthony Elanga and Anthony Gordon and within minutes the latter made an impact.
He broke down the left and pulled it inside for 6ft 6in Woltemade to lay it off for Guimaraes to fire a brilliant effort through three defenders and into the bottom corner from 18 yards.
Frank responded by throwing caution to the wind, bringing on Richarlison, Mathys Tel and Xavi Simons.
And they were rewarded instantly as they equalised with their first effort on target.
Kudus crossed from the right, and Romero got ahead of Burn to head home from the edge of the six-yard box.
Frank jumped for joy. They were 12 minutes away from earning a hard-earned point until disaster struck. And it left the Spurs boss fuming.
Bentancur wrestled giant Burn to the ground from a corner, and after a VAR check, Newcastle had a lifeline.
And Gordon made no mistake from the spot – sending Vicario the wrong way for his first goal contribution since January 25.
But his joy was short-lived as Ramsdale punched out a late corner, and it fell perfectly for Romero to hit a bicycle kick through a sea of bodies and into the net to silence St. James’.
