Elanga and Wissa fire Newcastle to victory at Spurs

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If ever you wanted to understand the distinction between ‘winning the transfer market’ and winning an actual football match, then this was the game for you. Tottenham’s first home fixture of the Premier League season began with adulatory focus on all their new players. It ended in decisive defeat to Newcastle as recruit after recruit failed to make their presence pay, while Newcastle’s forgotten forwards made hay. “Tottenham Hotspur, it’s happened again”, sang the Toon Army as if it needed pointing out.

Tottenham should have taken the lead in the first half they had the better of, but they had no response to impressive second-half strikes by first Anthony Elanga then Yoanne Wissa. What had looked like green shoots of positivity withered into nothing. For a Newcastle team itself a work in progress under Matthias Jaissle, this was a heartening victory achieved with still many of their own additions to come in.

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