Alexander Isak took his tally for the season up to 21 – 17 in the Premier League – with a typically clinical brace, with two of the Magpies’ other most consistent performers, Anthony Gordon and Fabian Schär, also on the scoresheet.
Just 90 seconds separated Isak’s opener and Gordon’s effort, and once the Swede notched his second shortly after the interval, United were in cruise control, with Spurs unable to muster up any form of response.
That being said, Ange Postecoglou’s side could easily have taken the lead themselves inside the first ten minutes. Making inroads down the Magpies’ left, Brennan Johnson delivered a delightful cross into the centre but, seemingly caught in two minds, Timo Werner blazed the ball off target. The German forward had opted to try a volley, when a header looked like the simpler option.
As expected, the game was open from the outset and it wasn’t long before United started to get on top. Last week’s match-winner at Fulham, Bruno Guimarães, nearly applied the finishing touch to a Gordon corner – the like of which caused havoc for Spurs all afternoon – with Harvey Barnes and Elliot Anderson finding room to roam.
And, with exactly half an hour played, they took the lead. It came on the counter – another fruitful area for the Magpies on the day – with Bruno’s lofted ball from deep finding Gordon. The England international got into a duel with Destiny Udogie, which he won, and fed Isak, who left a despairing Micky van de Ven for dead before rifling home.
Within the blink of an eye, it was two. This time, Spurs were definitely the architects of their own downfall. Guglielmo Vicario’s searching ball was cut out by Dan Burn, though the Geordie defender’s downward header forward could easily have been dealt with. Instead, Pedro Porro played a blind pass into the heart of his own danger area, gifting possession to Gordon, who checked inside and produced a powerful finish.
With Spurs reeling, Isak came close again, before James Maddison finally brought Martin Dúbravka into action with a snapshot from 18 yards.
The momentum was very much with Newcastle, though, and coming out for the second half, they pressed their advantage home with another lightning-quick move. Son Heung-min lost his bearings deep inside the Magpies’ half, ceding the ball to Bruno, who only had one thing on his mind. Looking up, he picked out Isak’s run with a ball over the top and the frontman was on his way. Though he had the pacy van de Ven for company, there was never much doubt about what was to follow; opening up his body, he coolly found the far corner of the net as Vicario tried to narrow the angle.
The tempo settled somewhat after that. Spurs had most of the ball – as had been the case for much of the game, in fairness – but rarely looked capable of doing a lot with it. Instead, it was the Magpies – now playing almost exclusively on the counter – who continued to look the more likely to score next. Anderson brought a fine stop out of Vicario at the ’keeper’s near post, while Emil Krafth – composed at the back throughout – hit the woodwork from the edge of the area after the visitors failed to deal with a corner.
And, in the 87th minute, the same thing happened again – and this time, Spurs didn’t get away with it. Gordon delivered the flag kick, with Schär getting up high to steer the ball back across goal and into the net.
