Tottenham 1 Newcastle 0:Alan Shearer's Newcastle were plunged closer to relegation after Darren Bent fired Tottenham to victory at White Hart Lane. Bent struck after 24 minutes to leave the former Toon legend without a win in his first three games as temporary manager, and he now has five matches to keep his club in the Premier League.
Fortunately for them, they have home clashes against Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Fulham — but judging by this performance they will not be straightforward.
They struggled to impose themselves on Spurs until Obafemi Martins came on and had a goal disallowed and a huge penalty shout turned down. It means Newcastle are now four points from safety and it looks like their survival bid will go to the wire.
The fact the Magpies had won their last six matches against Spurs mattered little in the context of staying in the top flight — Shearer was drafted in because they have only won a single game since Christmas.
It was also unfortunate for them they faced a Tottenham team who have been solid at home since the arrival of Harry Redknapp last October.
They have only conceded nine goals there all season and are still in the hunt for Europa League qualification.
Michael Owen endured a frustrating afternoon and provided little to persuade Fabio Capello, who was in the stands, he is worthy of an England recall.
With Andy Carroll rewarded with a starting place after earning a point against Stoke last time out, the visitors struggled to create chances. Their only shot of the first half, a tame effort from Kevin Nolan, came seconds before Bent’s opener.
Heurelho Gomes saved Nolan’s shot and hurled the ball out to Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Luka Modric took over and angled a pass towards Robbie Keane, which was cut out by Sebastien Bassong but fell to Bent, who finished at the second attempt from a tight angle after Steve Harper had saved his initial effort.
Spurs fans taunted Shearer, who remained stony-faced as he had before the
goal.
There were worrying scenes just after the half-hour mark when Michael Dawson landed heavily and was carried off on a stretcher with his ankle strapped up. It looked serious and Redknapp got up from the dug-out to console his centre-back.
The stoppage did not break Spurs’ momentum and they were fortunate not to add a second when Modric’s shot deflected off Bassong on the line for Harper to claim easily, with the Newcastle defender knowing little about his part in denying a goal.
Bent also cleared the crossbar with a header just before the break, with Newcastle struggling to hold on.
Centre-back Steven Taylor was replaced at half-time by Alan Smith and the substitution did little to tighten Shearer’s defence, with a last-ditch tackle needed from Habib Beye on Keane after Bassong failed to deal with a high ball.
Tom Huddlestone tried to find his range with a couple of first-half efforts and one of his free-kicks after the restart struck Bassong straight between the legs.
The French defender recovered and bravely blocked Modric’s shot when Keane laid the ball back to the Croatia playmaker.
Shearer’s response was to bring on Martins and Mark Viduka, with Nolan and Carroll making way. The two replacements joined Owen in a three-man attack.
Martins had the ball in the net with a slick finish but Mark Halsey whistled for handball against the Nigeria striker.
Then Martins went over in the penalty area with seven minutes to go under a Jonathan Woodgate challenge, but Halsey waved play on. Martins also blasted over in the dying moments during his exciting cameo.
