Tottenham Hotspur’s 2025/26 Carabao Cup campaign comes to an end after they suffered a 2-0 loss to Newcastle in the fourth round.
Newcastle away has always been a tough fixture for Spurs regardless of who’s been in charge, but this was still a fairly decent performance, let down by poor finishing and two sloppy, avoidable goals.
Thomas Frank rested most of his big names and was forced into a few makeshift decisions, including a centre-back pairing of Joao Palhinha and Kevin Danso. At the same time, Antonin Kinsky was handed just his second start of the season.
First half: Newcastle 1-0 Tottenham
Newcastle started brightly, with Kinsky forced into an early save to deny Malick Thiaw’s header from Sandro Tonali’s free-kick. Dan Burn then picked out Jacob Ramsey inside the box, but Pedro Porro got across quickly to block the shot.
Spurs had their first real moment when Richarlison’s effort was blocked by Thiaw after the Brazilian was played through by Pape Matar Sarr.
Newcastle should’ve made it 1-0 shortly after, though, when a slick move between Anthony Elanga, Tonali and Nick Woltemade ended with Harvey Barnes dragging his shot wide into the side netting.
After Palhinha sent Tonali’s cross behind for a corner, things got worse for Tottenham as Newcastle took the lead from it. Fabian Schar rose highest at the edge of the box to head past Kinsky.
Tottenham responded well. Lucas Bergvall drove forward before slipping in Brennan Johnson, whose low cross somehow ended with Richarlison refusing to tap into an open net for reasons only he’ll know.
Danso’s long-range effort was comfortably held by Aaron Ramsdale, before Newcastle nearly doubled their lead through Barnes, whose acrobatic strike from a Burn throw-in hit the crossbar.
Richarlison and Xavi Simons both had efforts saved before the break, but Spurs went in a goal down at half-time.
Second half: Newcastle 1-0 Tottenham
Tottenham didn’t come out for the second half with the kind of energy you’d expect from a side chasing the game, and they paid the price within five minutes.
A sloppy pass out from Danso was intercepted, allowing Joe Willock to lift a cross into the box. Kinsky came charging off his line but misjudged the flight completely, leaving Woltemade to nod into an empty net for 2-0.
Spurs tried their best to come back into the game. Bentancur’s header forced Ramsdale into action before the former Arsenal man produced the save of the night to tip away Sarr’s curling effort after a brilliant counter-attack. The goalkeeper denied Richarlison again soon after, this time from Porro’s corner.
The rest of the game fell painfully flat as the substitutes offered nothing, and Spurs somehow looked worse with fresh legs.
Their counters repeatedly broke down and with Newcastle comfortable in possession, the hosts calmly saw out the win to dump Tottenham out of the Carabao Cup.
FT: NEWCASTLE UNITED 0-2 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
SpursWeb man of the match: Lucas Bergvall
What’s next for Spurs?
This marks Thomas Frank’s third defeat of the season, but with Tottenham still in the title race and 11 players out injured, fans won’t be losing sleep over this one. If anything, it spares the squad from extra midweek fixtures in an already jam-packed schedule.
Of course, the Carabao Cup did look like the easiest route for Frank to bring silverware in his first season, but Spurs remain alive in other competitions, even if progression there will be much tougher.
Unfortunately, this was also Tottenham’s first away defeat of the campaign, and it just had to come at the hands of the defending champions, at the ever-annoying St James’ Park.
Next up, though, is a huge Premier League clash as Tottenham host Chelsea this weekend.