Sweet Release: Newcastle defeat Spurs on the road...

Well bloody hell...there's life in the Magpies yet. After a lackluster first half which saw them standing around like zombies and allowing the Spurs to go up 1-0 in the 18th minute, Newcastle United turned into a different football team and came back to score two goals in the second half to earn not only their second win, but their first win against a "real" top tier club.

Frankly, the Magpies are lucky that Tottenham didn't go up 5-0 in the first half, given the lifeless way they were playing. It was as if they had no confidence, no spunk, no guts. But then, something happened...

When the players lined up to start the 2nd half, Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi lined up far out on
Dier (L) looking like the cat that ate the canary as Ameobi (M)
watches his ball go past Hugo Lloris and into the Tottenham
onion sack.....
the left wing while his counterpart on Tottenham, Eric Dier, sort of dilly-dallied his way out onto the pitch. The whistle was blown, and Ameobi made a fast run down the left flank past the still sleeping Dier and, lo and behold, connected with a miraculous through-ball from Jack Colback to put the ball in the back of the onion bag a mere six (6) seconds into the second half. That was all it took to get the worm to turn.

After that, it was like a different game between two different teams. Newcastle played with a new kind of energy and guts, packing on another goal in the 58 minute by first time starter Ayoze Perez and then sort of (barely) holding on for dear life after that. Tottenham had a corner kick goal taken away (rather speciously, I must admit) by the ref because the ball curved out of bounds on its flight path. But hey, sometimes the rules go in your favor, silly as they may be.

Ayoze Perez performing some aerial
gymnastics to put the Magpies up
2-1 and give them the win.
The point is that finally...FINALLY...Newcastle have the monkey off their backs, even moreso than after their win against Leicester City last week. Why? Because Tottenham are a perennial Top 5 club. Even if they're wading around in the middle of the table, not really sure what they want to do with themselves this year, they're a big time club and it's a big time win for the Magpies who, all in the space of two games, have given themselves some much-needed breathing room from the dreaded "relegation zone" which they've hovered in or near all season.

A real magpie takes the pitch...
As a newly minted Newcastle fan, who has seen EVERY NUFC game this season, mind you, this was a big moment for me as well. I feel like I've put in my time with the club this season faithfully, diligently, week-in-week-out and I was finally rewarded for my efforts. When the clock hit 90 minutes and injury time began to count down, my pulse quickened and I sat on the edge of my seat for all five of those LONG, seemingly ENDLESS minutes, praying for either another goal to seal the deal or just that NUFC would hang on. And when the final, tell-tale three whistle blows sounded, relief washed over me like a warm Spring breeze.


Comments

Popular Posts