Newcastle United secured a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon.
The win comes after a challenging week for The Magpies, who were unable to sign Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi. Heading into the international break, the atmosphere around the club has improved.
The match was scrappy, but Eddie Howe’s side capitalized on their chances, with goals from Harvey Barnes and Alexander Isak. However, one Newcastle player faced significant criticism for his role in Tottenham’s equalizer.
Sky Sports co-commentator Andy Hinchcliffe expressed astonishment at Nick Pope’s decision to parry the ball just before Dan Burn’s own goal. Hinchcliffe questioned Pope’s choice, stating, “What on earth is Nick Pope doing? Why is he trying to parry the ball? The initial shot wasn’t particularly accurate or powerful, so he should have been able to collect it. It was a gift for Tottenham. Pope could have handled that better. It’s really poor goalkeeping.”
Despite this criticism, Pope, who has been praised as ‘world class’ by the Chronicle, was fortunate to have Isak score the winning goal.
Newcastle have had a solid start to the Premier League season, amassing seven points from their first nine despite some underwhelming performances. Howe’s team struggled against Southampton and could have lost to Bournemouth if not for a controversial stoppage-time goal by Dango Outtara being disallowed. Even against Spurs, Newcastle was on the back foot for much of the game, so securing three points is a notable achievement.
