We’ve seen it a few times at White Hart Lane. Spurs have a humongous number of chances yet the opposition keeper has a blinder and wins them the game. Ironically, this was a match where our passing actually started to look fluent and dangerous, rather than the lethargy that we have been forced to endure in previous weeks and months. Losing Lloris didn’t help although this match was all about who was in Newcastle’s net, not ours.
Brad Friedel – 6 – Arguably could and should have done better for the goal, but he did make a few good clearances from in-swinging corners.
Kyle Walker – 6 – Looked dangerous on the right flank and didn’t have too much to do defensively.
Michael Dawson – 6 – Let Remy go for the goal which is criminal; needs to either stay with him or play offside, but definitely not neither.
Vlad Chiriches – 6 – Impressive when pressing forward but not his best defensive game and was forced off by a facial injury at half time.
Jan Vertonghen – 6 – Nowhere near as impressive offensively or defensively as he has been in previous matches, to our detriment.
Paulinho – 6 – Overran the ball which directly contributed to the Newcastle goal and made only a few token efforts to seriously contribute to our attacking threat.
Mousa Dembele – 5 – A poor and uncomfortable performance from the Belgian and rightly subbed off at half time as we needed some stability in the centre of the pitch.
Andros Townsend – 5 – Saw plenty of the ball but failed to influence the game as much as he has done previously this season.
Christian Eriksen – 7 – Best Spurs player on the pitch, darting all over the place to try and find a killer pass, but he missed a gilt-edged chance to equalise in the second half.
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 4 – Anonymous. Lamela please.
Roberto Soldado – 5 – Crudely fouled by Yanga-Mbiwa on a couple of occasions when he threatened to turn him, but he was crowded out whenever he threatened to get a meaningful strike on goal. Unlucky not to score with a great near post header from an Eriksen free-kick.
Substitutes
Sandro – 7 – Solidified the midfield and made us tick slightly more, ensuring that we dominated the second half.
Younes Kaboul – 6 – Our defence certainly looked more solid with him in there although Newcastle did have less of the ball anyway in the second half.
Jermain Defoe – 4 – Came off the bench, did nothing. Remind you of any previous substitute appearances by him?