Barclays Premier League: Tottenham 1 Newcastle 2
STEVE McClaren hailed a “fantastic” Newcastle display after a last-minute goal against high-flying Tottenham earned his side back-to-back wins for the first time since Alan Pardew was in charge in November 2014.
Aleksandar Mitrovic came off the bench to cancel out Eric Dier’s first half opener before his fellow substitute Ayoze Perez netted a dramatic stoppage-time winner as the Magpies moved two points clear of the Barclays Premier League relegation zone.
McClaren, whose team also defeated Liverpool last weekend, said: “I thought the players were fantastic today. It’s answered the critics and it was a great performance in the second half and a great result.
“We have asked for consistency and the last two weeks they have provided that and it has brought everyone closer together.
“We kind of lost something in the international break and it’s taken us two weeks to get that.”
Newcastle conceded five minutes before half-time and the 54-year-old manager said his dressing room at the break was so loud with the players rallying around each other that it made him proud as he could hardly get a word in.
“There have been so many times when I have gone in at half-time and the dressing room has been silent,” he said.
“I was angry at the goal but the players were fabulous at half-time.
“It was so vocal, such a determination in the players not to go down the same path as they usually do.
“They took it on board, we haven’t had back-to-back wins for over a year and to do it was immense.
“You can talk and talk but to see them do it on the pitch is great.”
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was understandably disappointed after seeing his side lose for only the second time in the Premier League this season, their last defeat coming in their opening match at Manchester United in August.
He said: “One-nil up always gives the opponents the chance to come back into the game.
“We lost concentration and made easy mistakes, we started to give the opponents the belief they can win the game.”
