Newcastle have handed Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham another drubbing at St James’ Park as Alexander Isak’s double helped secure an emphatic 4-0 win for Eddie Howe’s team in the Premier League.
The drubbing on Saturday lunchtime dropped Spurs below Aston Villa on goal difference into fifth place in the league, with only the top-four guaranteed Champions League football next season.
Isak and Anthony Gordon both scored within 95 seconds of each other in the first half as Newcastle followed up last season’s 6-1 home win over Spurs with another dominant performance.
Isak, who also scored twice in that big win last April, capped a stellar performance with a second goal in the 51st minute to take his tally to 17 in the league and 21 overall this season.
Gordon added his second assist of the game with a corner that was headed home by Fabian Schar for the fourth goal in the 87th.
Postecoglou, who took charge after last season, had said this week that he had not studied the tape of the 6-1 loss – but he probably won’t want to watch this one back, either.
Tottenham’s defence fell apart repeatedly and star centre back Micky van de Ven was partially at fault for the first two goals as he slipped both times and let Isak and Gordon go past him inside the area.
Gordon had set Isak up for the opener in the 30th minute and then netted the second himself in the 32nd after pouncing on a poor ball from Tottenham right back Pedro Porro back towards his own goal.
The third came when Bruno Guimaraes helped Newcastle win possession just outside their own area and then launched a long ball up the pitch for the speedy Isak to run onto.
The striker made no mistake when one-on-one with goalkeeper Vicario, calmly slotting the ball inside the far post.
Isak has now scored in six straight league home games and became the first Newcastle player since Alan Shearer in 2003-04 to reach 20 goals in all competitions in a top-flight season.
Schar was then left open to head home Gordon’s corner from eight yards out to cap the rout and ensure Newcastle are now sixth, 10 points behind Villa and Tottenham.
