Alexander Isak scored twice as the prolific Swede continued his scoring spree at St. James’ Park. His brace ensured Newcastle United earned a thumping triumph over Tottenham Hotspur. The defeat dented the Lilywhites’ hopes of playing in Europe’s elite competition next season as they failed to move ahead of Aston Villa in fourth place.
Isak opened the scoring for the Magpies on the half-hour mark. Anthony Gordon won possession from Udogie and slipped the ball through to the Swede who left Van de Ven seated on the grass before slotting beyond the reach of Vicario and into the bottom-left corner.
A minute later, Gordon doubled the scores for the home side. Pedro Porro hit an awkward back pass into the path of Gordon who wasted no time in beating Van de Ven to increase Newcastle United’s tally and left Spurs wishing the break comes sooner.
Alexander Isak returned to terrorizing Spurs in the second half when he slotted in his second of the day and Newcastle’s third. Bruno Guimaraes dispossessed Son and hit a long ball for the Swede to run. He did perfectly by leaving Van de Ven trailing in his wake before calmly dropping the retreating Vicario and putting it to the right-bottom corner.
Fabio Schar ensured Tottenham Hotspur has no dreams of a late comeback when he rose above everyone to send a thumping header beyond Vicario. Anthony Gordon again was the architect in this by perfectly finding Schar with Newcastle’s 16th corner of the match.
His brace took his tally in the league to 17 from 24 appearances while his total for the season so far is 19 from 30. His tally for last season was 10 in 22 appearances for the Magpies in the league. He is third in the scoring charts behind Erling Haaland, 20 and Ollie Watkins, 18.
Alexander Isak may have the number 14 embellished on the back of his shirt, but the Swedish striker is cut from the same cloth as names ordinarily related with the legendary number nine.
Within the Chief Alliance period, as it were two men have scored in more progressive diversions than Isak – Shearer (15) and Cole (eight) – to underline why he will rapidly set up himself as a saint on Tyneside.
Though Alexander Isak did not wrap up a hat-trick, Newcastle achieved a statement win over a big rival as the race for Champions League football is near conclusion. The Magpies are 10 points behind Ange Postecoglou’s men. Eddie Howe’s men will return to action in midweek with a trip to Crystal Palace before welcoming Sheffield United in an afternoon kick-off on Saturday.
Tottenham Hotspur meanwhile, are not in action until Sunday when they welcome table toppers, Arsenal in a London derby. They will then take on Chelsea in another London derby four days later to clear up their outstanding fixtures.
