Tottenham needed to win this game and did so in a manner that suggests the battle for fourth place, or better, is nowhere near cut and dried. They enter the Champions League places, at least until Arsenal visit Crystal Palace on Monday night, and left the pitch smacking of a team that is discovering momentum at the right time. When Fabian Schär gave Newcastle, who looked compact and competent until half‑time, the lead there was no suggestion Spurs would subsequently blow them away; Antonio Conte’s players were irresistible in the second period, though, and made a mockery of early concerns about the team’s shape.
Sergio Reguilón’s injury had meant Matt Doherty would be required to cut inside from left wing-back while Emerson Royal, who has struggled to attack effectively for most of the season, was recalled to the right. The wide threat Conte prizes seemed some way off but it turned out the naysayers knew nothing: Doherty gave Tottenham the lead with a deftly angled header after running infield and later teed up Royal, who had made his own enterprising incursion, for the fourth. When the previously goalless Brazilian is on target it is probably your day, and Conte’s characteristically extravagant celebrations gave truth to the occasion’s importance.
