Alexander Isak leads Newcastle with a double in the rout of toothless Tottenham | first division

At least it wasn't as bad as last year for Tottenham. Almost exactly 12 months ago, Antonio Conte's interim successor, Cristian Stellini, presided over a 6-1 defeat This confirmed that things were very bad in North London and set in motion a chain of events which concluded with Ange Postecoglou breathing new life into the team.

The Australian bailout and reform bill appeared to be working generally well until Tottenham suffered a setback on Tyneside serious enough to threaten their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

The Spurs arrived in the northeast with fourth place in the first division within reach and many of his followers were increasingly convinced that Postecoglou's refreshing brand of management was doing much to correct deep-seated defects. They left him with the “can we play with you every week?” The mockery of the Newcastle fans rings in his ears.

As injury-ravaged Eddie Howe's side emphasized their desperation to qualify for Europe, Newcatle's Swedish striker Alexander Isak looked capable of overtaking Manchester City's Erling Haaland for the golden boot and winger Anthony Gordon looked willing to book a place on England's flight to Euro 2024. In Germany, Spurs were haunted by the ghosts not only of last April but also of May 2016, when Mauricio Pochettino's team They were thrashed 5-1 by Rafael Benítez's fighters until now.

Before kick-off, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy laid a wreath at St James' Park grounds in memory of Joe Kinnear, the Spurs' veteran full back and, briefly, the Newcastle manager who died last Sunday.

In his heyday, Kinnear was an excellent player and a very good coach, particularly at Wimbledon, but by the time he reached his final posting on Tyneside his health was declining and a chaotic few months ensued. Perhaps appropriately, there was more than an element of chaos in this collision of two of his former teams who are still much better at attacking than defending.

It all started with Tottenham's Timo Werner volleying high and wide after meeting Brennan Johnson's cross, but it wasn't long before Harvey Barnes missed an equally tempting opportunity at the opposite end, the Newcastle winger failing to properly control a ball that bounced after a good pass from Gordon. Johnson certainly possessed the pace to beat Howe's left-back Dan Burn, making Newcastle's decision shortly after kick-off to switch to a back three, with Jacob Murphy pushed forward from right-back, seem a high risk tactic.

However, Howe evidently knew what he was doing, as his team quickly scored two goals in two minutes. In both cases Micky van de Ven fell at precisely the wrong time. The defender's first slip allowed Isak to direct a shot beyond the reach of Guglielmo Vicario and the second allowed the impressive Gordon to send another curling shot into the back of the net from a tight angle as Newcastle pressed high and hard.

Congratulations to Gordon for ignoring Destiny Udogie before providing Isak with a beautifully timed pass for the opener that saw the in-form striker play alongside the hapless Van de Ven.

Gordon had been furious when James Maddison went unpunished after giving him a cheeky body check, but for long periods that was the closest any of Postecoglou's players came to the winger. The Tottenham manager looked slightly dazed and shook his head repeatedly as the gloriously elusive Isak resumed his trademark gazelle-on-wheels impression and came close to scoring another brace before the break.

He and Gordon had certainly made a strong case for possession to be overrated. Spurs had enjoyed more than two-thirds of it, however, with Van de Ven enduring the type of game in which calamity stalked his every intervention, it will be no surprise if their nightmares are inhabited by mortifying one-on-ones involving the two attackers. surpassing him at all times.

Soon the situation got worse for the Spurs. When Bruno Guimarães destabilized Postecoglou's defense thanks to a routine overhead pass, the visitors' defense was split in two once again and Isak emerged clean with the careless Van de Ven behind him and only the unprotected Vicario to beat. The Swede made no mistake and scored his 17th Premier League goal of the season and his fifth in his last four games.

Perhaps anxious not to be upstaged, Swedish defender Emil Krafth hit a post, but it was his centre-back partner, Swiss Fabian Schär, who scored the fourth. Schär may not attract the same amount of headlines as Isak and Gordon, but the ball-playing centre-back is another strong candidate for his club's player of the season.

Schär capped another stellar afternoon by rising unmarked to meet Gordon's corner and compounding Tottenham's misery by heading in Newcastle's final blow.