03/12/2025
The Final Word: 2-2
Walking through Town yesterday evening and into St James’ Park felt good. There was a warm, positive energy in the air despite December starting as cold as ever, and many were talking about taking advantage of an under-pressure Thomas Frank to secure our third consecutive Premier League win and begin climbing the table.
That optimism was clearly a lingering effect of the big win at Everton, which finally got that away-day monkey off our backs. Yet by full-time, positivity had been replaced by frustration after Newcastle threw away another lead — and more points — at the death, making it 11 points dropped from winning positions (P9 W5 D1), the joint-most in the league with Brentford.
It begs the question: do we have a mentality problem when going ahead? Bruno certainly thought so post-match when he alluded to it. If we believed the issue had been resolved on Merseyside when pushing on from 1–0 to win 4–1, it reared its ugly head again — and very unwelcome it was — on home soil.
Howe made two changes to the team that beat Everton, with Murphy and Tonali returning in place of the unfortunate Elanga and deciding to rest Bruno. We started well and on the front foot and Spurs looked poor despite their better away form than their home troubles.
Lewis Hall was excellent in particular. He not only had the beating of Kudus, but he also pushed forward constantly to offer a dangerous attacking threat down the left. Under pressure from multiple players, he showed exquisite footwork, agility and balance to wriggle free from his markers.
Barnes looked sharp too, repeatedly running at Porro and getting the better of him. In the first 25 minutes we enjoyed more of the ball and created the clearer chances — Miley’s tame effort at Vicario and Joelinton crashing one off the post from Murphy’s threaded pass being the standouts.
It wasn’t all straightforward, though. Bergvall sent Spurs’ only real chance — a very tidy flick — over Ramsdale’s bar. We were also carrying several poor performers: Murphy was ineffective and showed lapses in concentration and lack of attacking conviction; Joelinton was pretty anonymous and repeatedly gave possession away needlessly; and Tonali, usually so instrumental to our play with high-level performances, struggled to create much. (In truth, he looks more like a single-pivot midfielder who links defence and attack.) His set pieces were poor too.
Goalless at the break, but we had been the better side. You felt that a couple of changes and a chance to regroup would see us come out and find the elusive opener we deserved. Only one change came, with Bruno replacing the struggling Tonali, who had taken a knock earlier despite calls for Joelinton to be replaced by Ramsey.
The second-half began in the same vein. Chances came for Barnes, whose shot was saved by Vicario, and for Woltemade, whose follow-up header was cleared off the line by Danso. From a Bruno corner, Livramento’s long-range strike was blocked by a defender, preventing what looked destined to be a goal.
Finally, the breakthrough arrived in the 71st-minute. Gordon, on as a substitute and clearly with a point to prove, accelerated past Porro, and his cutback found Woltemade. His deft touch back was swept home beautifully by Bruno.
But the joy was short-lived. Seven minutes later, Hall didn’t close down the space quickly enough, Kudus crossed low, Burn switched off, and Romero produced a superb diving header to level the match. It was a blow, but the crowd and team responded well.
Bruno’s corner was delivered in, the clearance was messy, and VAR — along with the referee — adjudged that Bentancur had fouled Burn while not looking at the ball. It was a somewhat fortunate penalty as you see similar incidents weekly, and it felt soft, but nobody in black and white was complaining as Gordon tucked it away confidently.
At that point, you hoped that a Spurs side low on confidence, having lost four consecutive games under a manager under pressure, would fold. We should have seen it out to claim three consecutive league wins by being proactive and bringing on a Ramsey or Willock and taking the play to their half — but we were wrong.
Howe made, in my view, the wrong substitution, bringing on Schär instead of another midfielder. That decision saw us cede territory, drop deeper and deeper, and turn over possession repeatedly, gifting Spurs confidence that they could get something.
Then came the inevitable. Ramsdale misjudged Tel’s corner, and Romero’s overhead-kick somehow trickled through three static defenders and past an unsighted Ramsdale in the 95th minute and his desperate dive was in vain.
From sitting seventh, we immediately dropped six places to 13th. A huge blow in our quest for momentum — but, in my opinion, not an undeserved for Spurs despite them only having two shots on target. They will feel their equaliser balanced out the soft penalty. I agree, and they defended well and were clinical with their limited opportunities.
Did we deserve to win? No. We created our own problems that allowed them to take a point. But should we have seen the game out after leading so late on? Absolutely.
To conclude, I agree with Bruno: we do have a mentality issue. A fragility. Top teams do not let late leads slip, and this must be resolved quickly as fixtures are coming thick and fast this winter.
Next up is Burnley, and this result only adds pressure to win and climb into the top-half. It’s a match we should win, but this league is unforgiving — there can be no complacency or errors on Saturday.
From a glass-half-full perspective, it’s a solid return of seven points from nine against City, Everton and Spurs, and securing 10 from 12 against Burnley would be a very healthy return before Germany and the looming Wear-Tyne derby. But if we continue making the same mistakes every other game, we can forget about returning to European football — inconsistency coupled with a fragile mentality will be our Achilles’ heel.
Some positives, though as Wissa is rumoured to be back on the bench this weekend, which would be a huge lift and help ease the burden on Woltemade.
For now, it’s time to reset and refocus as we look to take down the Clarets on Saturday. It doesn't need to be a vintage Bordeaux Red of a performance, just 3 points without any of the late drama we've become accustomed to this season.
