After a week of three defeats, this was a precious point for Tottenham.
Twice they fell behind at Newcastle and twice they responded to earn a 2-2 draw, the first time they haven't been beaten at St James' Park since 2021.
Cristian Romero was the hero, scoring both of the goals. First he cancelled out Bruno Guimaraes' finish and the second was a 94th-minute overhead kick, coming after Anthony Gordon had restored Newcastle's lead with a controversial penalty.
Rodrigo Bentancur was deemed to have fouled Dan Burn, a decision harshly awarded after an on-field review.
The concerns are still there in attack for Spurs. They had only two shots on target and both were by their centre-back.
However, after a miserable run, this would have been a huge relief for Thomas Frank.
Captain Romero to the rescue
This was the full Romero experience, good and bad.
In the first half, the club captain looked all over the place. On his return from suspension, he was booked for a rash challenge when charging up the pitch, having already been robbed deep in his own half when trying to dribble out.
Defensively he was shaky but, when his team needed him, the Argentine was there to make the difference at the other.
After a Spurs corner was cleared, he stayed up in attack and was on hand to dive ahead of his man at the near post and head past Aaron Ramsdale brilliantly.
When Gordon then made it 2-1, Romero increasingly took it upon himself to lead the line, playing ahead of even Richarlison.
For good reason too, it turns out. the centre-back went to ground from a corner appealing for a penalty, but with the ball looping up he got to his feet and produced an overhead kick that bobbled in.
In a tough run and with so many in the team struggling, Spurs need their leaders to step up. Romero did just that.
Shocking first-half run continues
For the fourth Premier League match in a row, the visitors failed to register a single shot on target in the first half.
This, at least by their standards, was slightly better, with at least some semblance of the kind of attacking threat that did not exist against Arsenal and Chelsea.
Brennan Johnson dragged a dangerous ball across the face of goal, while Lucas Bergvall's clever flick looped just over the bar.
The fact those efforts alone represent Spurs' best first-half in weeks should be a major concern, though.
Thomas Frank’s side didn't concede in that opening period but once again the system, and this time it was back to a 4-2-3-1, did not get them out of the blocks quickly enough.
Vicario backed by travelling support
Guglielmo Vicario has been the story for Spurs in recent days.
There has been plenty of debate after he was booed by the home fans against Fulham following a terrible mistake. Ironically, Vicario was one of the only ones in the north Londoners’ camp to play the incident down and say he could take it.
Vicario conceded two here but he was at fault for neither of the goals. He was called upon to make a sharp stop in the second half when Harvey Barnes skipped away from Romero.
Most pleasing to Vicario, and perhaps Frank, will be the support from the away fans. They chanted Vicario's name in the first half after a comfortable save from a Lewis Miley effort.
After the match, as the Tottenham players gathered together, it was Vicario who was again serenaded by the travelling support up in the clouds. It was a classy moment from the fans.
