Wounded by Willock

Spurs failed to break into the Champions League places as Joe Willock’s 85th-minute equaliser secured a well-deserved point for relegation-haunted Newcastle.

Two quickfire first-half Harry Kane goals had given Tottenham the lead after Joelinton opened the scoring. But the North Londoners’ defensive frailties – which have resulted in Jose Mourinho’s side surrendering 15 points from winning positions this season – were again laid bare.

The Portuguese opted to field the same line-up that had overcome Aston Villa last time out. And Spurs should have taken the lead inside the opening minute. Following a throw-in in the right-back position, Newcastle relinquished possession to Carlos Vinicius. The Brazilian saw Harry Kane sprinting to join him but couldn’t find his strike partner with what should have been a simple pass across the six-yard box.

Moments later, Joelinton spurned a presentable chance at the other end. A nervous header from Davinson Sanchez, which set the jitters loose among his defensive colleagues, rebounded against the forward, affording him a clear sight of Lloris’s goal. The Newcastle number 9 appears to wear that hallowed jersey heavily and could only choke his shot straight at the Tottenham goalkeeper.

If the Frenchman had not been unduly troubled by Joelinton, he was at full-stretch to deny Dwight Gayle on the twenty-minute mark. Jacob Murphy, who ran all over Sergio Reguilon throughout the match, set the ball back to Jonjo Shelvey. The midfielder’s teasing first-time cross found Gayle darting between Sanchez and Tanganga to head towards the bottom corner. Lloris plunged to his right to flick the ball away one-handed and then was back on his feet to divert the striker’s follow up onto the post.

With only Ndombele offering an intermittent creative spark for the visitors, Newcastle continued to look the more likely to break the deadlock. And with 27 minutes played, they made the breakthrough merited by their positive approach. It came as little surprise that the goal emanated from a series of errors in the Tottenham rearguard. A short goal-kick was rolled wide to Tanganga. The young right-back signposted his intention to play a pass down the line, which was immediately cut out. The loose ball broke towards Sanchez, who replicated Tanganga’s mistake. Ritchie pounced and drove inside. Hojbjerg was favourite to win a challenge with the Scot but was timid in his tackle. Longstaff took over, steering the ball across the face of goal where this time Joelinton made no mistake.

The concession stung Spurs into action, and within 30 seconds of the restart, they were level. The impressive Ndombele immediately found space in the Newcastle half before spinning a pass wide to Lo Celso on the right. The Argentine guided the ball behind the Newcastle backline with the outside of his boot. Emil Krafth was well placed to clear – but inexplicably missed his kick, gifting Harry Kane a tap-in.

The nature of the goal deflated the hosts, and within five minutes, they fell behind. Hojbjerg’s crisp vertical pass found Ndombele, who had wandered beyond the congested Newcastle midfield. Barely glancing up as he drove forward, the Frenchman conjured a glorious reverse pass with his left foot that set Kane away on the right. The England captain’s assured first-touch was followed by his emphatic second, a low shot across Dubravka that lasered into the far corner. This was Kane’s 19th goal of a magnificent campaign and saw the striker supplant Mo Salah in the race for the golden boot.

Rather than pressing home their advantage, Spurs relapsed and allowed Newcastle back into the match. Steve Bruce’s side should have restored parity before the interval but failed to take advantage of another fissure in the Tottenham back four. Sanchez lumped a long clearance forward which was returned with interest. Rodon had been sucked to the right, creating a vast gap for Gayle to feed the ball through to Almiron. Carelessly, the striker overhit his attempted pass, allowing Lloris to rush from his line and avert the danger.

With his side’s conspicuous defensive deficiencies, Mourinho recognised the need for a further goal by replacing the ineffective Vinicius with Son at half-time. The Korean was still waiting for a meaningful touch when Newcastle drew another superb save from Lloris. A routine punt downfield was met by Sanchez. The centre-half’s header fell to Almiron, who backed Rodon into the box before sending a low curler for the bottom corner. Only the very edge of the Tottenham keeper’s fingertips made contact with the shot, but this was enough to deflect the ball around the post.

Murphy continued to pile upfield from his right-wing-back berth and came close to bringing Newcastle level twice in quick succession. First, he tore past Reguilon on the outside, swinging a dangerous centre towards Joelinton, which Sanchez did well to scrape clear. Then he ran inside the Spanish full-back to receive Shelvey’s pass but was again denied by a block from the Colombian.

Lamela was sent on just after the hour as Mourinho attempted to reverse the black and white tide. There are few players better suited to this role than Lamela in the Premier League. His aggressive industry had an immediate effect.

The Argentine skipped away from Dummett on the right-wing, forcing the defender to chop him down. Son flashed in the resulting free-kick, which found its way to Reguilon at the far post. A sharp change of pace took the Tottenham left-back to the byline, from where he delivered a menacing centre that Almiron headed behind. Lo Celso’s inswinging corner was flapped into the air by Dubravka, who looked on helplessly as Tanganga rose highest to power a header goalwards. Almiron, however, had retreated behind his keeper and repelled the goalbound effort off the line.

Further chances came and went for Kane and Son to add a decisive third. But as the game entered its final ten minutes, the unease among the Tottenham defensive ranks ensured the result remained very much in the balance. Hojbjerg conceded a corner to Manquillo, which was taken by Ritchie. Kane, patrolling the near-post, leapt to head it clear and set Lamela away on a counter charge. Son offered an angle for a pass to the right, but Lamela instead looked left where Kane had made up the ground. Off-balance the striker squeezed a shot through two defenders, wrongfooting Dubravka but only finding the outside of the goalkeeper’s post. It was the match’s pivotal moment. 52 seconds later, Newcastle made it 2-2.

Substitute Allan Saint-Maximin fed Ritchie on the left. Tanganga failed to prevent the winger’s cross, which Joelinton met forcefully at the back post. The front-man headed the ball across the six-yard box. Almiron couldn’t force it home, but after a series of ricochets, another late sub, Woolwich loanee Joe Willock, crashed the ball into the net off the underside of the crossbar. Gareth Bale was immediately thrown on, but there was insufficient time for the Welshman to rescue the situation.

Yet again, when Tottenham’s rivals’ stumbling results have opened up a path to the Champions League for Mourinho, his side has responded by stubbing its toe. Time for the manager and his sclerotic Spurs is fast running out.