Steve McClaren says that being goalless at halftime was a turning point for Newcastle in their 2-1 win against the Spurs.
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And relegation-threatened Newcastle are now two points clear of the drop zone ahead of Saturday’s hugely-important home game against basement club Aston Villa.
“They were disappointed, but came on and showed they wanted to play (and) changed the game – well, not changed the game, because I thought we were growing into the game anyway”.
“There have been so many times when I have gone in at half-time and the dressing room has been silent”, he said.
Click through the pages below to see how Newcastle fans reacted on Twitter to the unexpected win.
Both sides pushed forward late on in search of a victor and Newcastle went close when Sissoko’s fizzing cross was nearly converted by Mitrovic, but the forward was just unable to reach it. Against teams at the bottom we haven’t played like we have against teams from the top five.
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino blamed a series of basic errors for the demise of his side’s 14-match unbeaten Premier League run but refused to scapegoat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for yesterday’s defeat to Newcastle. “We couldn’t shut them up”, he explained.
Now Elliot feels the Magpies possess the quality to keep on improving after impressive back-to-back wins against Spurs and Liverpool. “It is a bad feeling but we need to work hard and look forward”.
“I was angry at the goal but the players were fabulous at half-time”.
After the Newcastle result at White Hart Lane, Spurs” combative midfielder Eric Dier told the club’s official website: “There are no excuses.
“The rumours, there’s a lot of rumours in football, but I think that we are focusing on the game”. “With each mistake, we started to give our opponents more belief, more command of the game”, he added.
“It is not about one player”, Pochettino said.
Newcastle levelled when substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic tapped home after a scramble inside the six-yard box before Perez struck deep into stoppage time.
Newcastle United frontman Ayoze Perez admits that he is happy to learn of rumoured interest in his services from Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
“It’s hard because you know you have to win these matches if you want to be in the top four”, he said.
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The Belgian defender called on his team-mates to show more ruthlessness to kill off games after taking the first-half lead.
