A new era at Newcastle began with defeat as Tottenham spoiled the takeover party in a drama-filled afternoon at St James’ Park.
In what was the first match since the £305million takeover was completed, the visitors sealed a 3-2 victory after Callum Wilson’s opener thanks to goals from Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Kane and Heung-min Son before Eric Dier’s late own goal made it an uncomfortable finish.
Kane found the net to flip the game on its head after Wilson’s opener
It started so well for the new owners, but a reality check quickly followed
The match was paused and then suspended before the first half ended
TV duo and Toon fans Ant and Dec were in attendance for the first match of the new era on Tyneside
But towards the end of the first half, the football took the backseat as the game was brought to a halt for a lengthy period of time due to a medical emergency involving a member of the crowd, who was later declared ‘in a stable condition.’
In many ways, the result on a long-anticipated day was rendered largely irrelevant after players and fans looked on anxiously as medical crews battled to save the life of a spectator in the East Stand at St James’ Park during an eventful first half on the pitch.
With non-executive chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan looking on, Callum Wilson got Steve Bruce’s 1,000th game as a manager off to the perfect start, but goals from Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Kane – his first in the Premier League this season – and Son Heung-min put the visitors in complete control by the time the break arrived.
Bruce’s hopes of hanging on to his job look forlorn – Newcastle have failed to win any of their opening eight league games and remain in 19th place in the table – and top-flight survival, as it was for much of the Mike Ashley era, has to be the sole aim for the immediate future.
At his pre-match press conference on Friday, Bruce had signalled his intention to stay exactly where he was and, having recalled the fit-again Wilson to his starting line-up, saw the striker make his mark within two minutes.
Reguilon was first to draw the incident in the crowd to the referee’s attention
Allan Saint-Maximin deftly rolled the ball into the path of the over-lapping Javier Manquillo and Wilson got across his marker to head the wing-back’s cross firmly past Hugo Lloris.
If they were stung by the early setback, Spurs did not panic and gradually worked their way back into the game before launching a blistering response.
Ndombele levelled with a sumptuous strike from the edge of the box with 17 minutes gone and worse was to follow for the home crowd when Kane got the benefit of a tight offside call following a VAR review after running on to a ball over the top and lifting it over the advancing Darlow to end his league drought.
Saint-Maximin only just failed to get a touch on Wilson’s 31st-minute cross after linking well with Joelinton, with the Magpies shaking themselves out of a lacklustre period of play as the Frenchman and Joe Willock started to make an impact.
Lucas Moura was unfortunate not to kill off a renewed sense of hope when he got his head to Son’s corner and saw his effort come back off the crossbar, but with four minutes of a pulsating first-half remaining, the game was suspended after players alerted referee Andre Marriner to an ongoing medical emergency in the crowd and he took them off.
Shelvey was sent off for two clumsy challenges shortly after coming on
The game restarted after a 20-minute delay with the casualty stabilised and on the way to hospital, and Newcastle fell further behind during seven minutes of added time when Kane crossed for Son to slide home at the far post.
Bruce’s men returned facing an uphill climb and they found themselves chasing shadows as Spurs, led by the hugely impressive Ndombele, continued to dominate.
St James’ resounded to chants of “We want Brucey out”, which were repeated after substitute Jonjo Shelvey was dismissed for a second bookable offence with seven minutes remaining, with Eric Dier’s late own goal sparking fresh, but ultimately vain, hope.