Two late goals from Cristian Romero enabled Thomas Frank to leave Tyneside celebrating the sort of dramatic draw that can be construed as a form of moral victory.
The Tottenham captain’s equaliser in stoppage time, his second leveller of the scrappiest of games, not merely camouflaged plenty of visiting flaws but surely reinforced his manager’s recently fragile looking job security.
Equally importantly Romero showed precisely why he is an Argentina defender by helping the similarly impressive Kevin Danso to keep Nick Woltemade and co quiet as Newcastle were left hugely frustrated. “It wasn’t us at our best today,” Eddie Howe said. “It’s disappointing.”
Frank was rather more upbeat. “I really liked the character of the team,” he said. “This is a really difficult place to come and the performance showed fantastic mentality and character. Our ability to react to setbacks was great. At first we suffered but, after that, we were brave on the ball and calm going forward.”
As Brentford’s manager, Frank prided himself on achieving a decent work life balance. Back then he managed eight hours sleep a night, five exercise sessions a week, regular downtime with his beloved Wilbur Smith novels and relaxing family holidays.
Judging by the technical area evidence a few months at Spurs have left him looking in urgent need of a destressing spa break.
Frank’s increasingly animated touchline gesticulations and manic first-half gum chewing came freighted with evident tension, particularly when Romero was booked for fouling Joelinton.
At least the latterly much criticised Guglielmo Vicario played well following recent mistakes. Frank, creditably, insisted he would not drop Vicario in the face of hefty criticism from fans and, perhaps taking the hint, the travelling supporters perched high in the Leazes End dutifully sang the goalkeeper’s name on repeat after Vicario saved a Lewis Miley shot.
Newcastle were, as is invariably the case here, pressing high and hard. At times Spurs looked in peril of being blown away by so much home aggression and, presumably in damage‑limitation mode, attempted to counter Newcastle with a fairly direct approach rather than risk too much fancy footwork playing out from the back.
Both teams ceded possession too cheaply, though, and Frank winced when Mohammed Kudus attempted a spot of ball juggling in his own half.
No matter, Tottenham’s hopes of improving on a woeful record of one point from their previous four Premier League matches and averting a fourth successive defeat in all competitions were enhanced when Lucas Bergvall met Kudus’s low cross and attempted an audacious back‑heel flick that arced just over the bar.
Although Joelinton was unfortunate to see a shot rebound off a post, Spurs had improved and Howe could not have failed to notice that his suddenly flat side had looked rather burned out – mentally more than physically – as the interval approached.
The trouble with Howe’s, albeit hugely exhilarating, heavy metal style is that it is near impossible to sustain for too long and the irrepressible version of Newcastle seen cantering to victory at Everton last Saturday had gone missing.
The home manager’s concern was that Vicario was, like Newcastle’s former Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, not exactly overworked and, in an attempt to break the deadlock he introduced the speed and skill of Anthony Elanga and Anthony Gordon.
It was an earlier substitute, Bruno Guimarães – who had replaced the injured Sandro Tonali at half-time – who finally ended the impasse. His goal began with Gordon accelerating down the left and removing Pedro Porro and Romero from the defensive equation before crossing low for Woltemade. The Germany striker’s typically deft lay‑off fell to Guimarães to run on to and the Newcastle captain’s swerving shot from the edge of the area proved far too good for even Vicario.
Romero soon atoned for his part in that goal. When Newcastle failed to properly clear a corner Kudus outwitted Lewis Hall and crossed for the captain to head Spurs level.
Chaos ensued. First, a penalty area wrestling match involving Dan Burn and Rodrigo Bentancur concluded with a video assistant referee review deciding Burn had been fouled. “It was never a penalty,” Frank said. “It was a mistake by VAR.”
As Gordon made no mistake from the penalty spot, Spurs looked beaten – but Romero had very different ideas.
When Ramsdale punched a corner, the captain’s spectacular overhead kick flew into the back of the net. “It was a beautiful goal,” Romero said. “But every day with the national team, I watch Leo Messi.”
