Rafa Benitez: Newcastle ‘100% deserved something’ from Tottenham defeat

Newcastle gave as good as they got on their first trip to the home of football in 18 years, but a splendid Harry Kane goal early in the second half was enough for Spurs.

Tottenham piled forward from the off and Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka pulled off a stunning one-handed save to keep Christian Eriksen’s curling 20-yard free-kick from finding the top-left corner of the net.

With the World Cup just over a month away, the England striker has not looked at his best in recent weeks but has still scored four goals in his past six league games.

If you thought Kane was the standout player for Spurs, however, you couldn’t be more off the mark as it was captain and custodian Hugo Lloris who singlehandedly kept the Lilywhites in the game with save after save. The goal was harsh on Newcastle but they were punished for a momentary slip on an otherwise impressive evening.

Rafael Benitez felt his side were hard done by, drawing parallels with his view of Newcastle’s 2-0 home defeat to Spurs in August 2017, but picked out midfielder Jonjo Shelvey as the visitors’ stand-out player. That was the challenge four years ago.

Newcastle were still not playing ball and continued to threaten, with Lloris needing to make a last-ditch tackle to deny Matt Richie, while Jacob Murphy produced a glaring miss after beating Davinson Sanchez.

Spurs got off to a good start, piling on the pressure right from the first whistle.

As ever though, in football it is luck that always plays a part. I’ve worked a lot on my physical abilities. Nobody summed up Spurs’ passive approach in the first half better than Sissoko.

Vertonghen says the news that fifth-placed Chelsea were losing at home to Huddersfield – the Blues eventually drew the match 1-1 to fall four points behind Tottenham – lifted the players during the interval.

Goals from Danilo, Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho saw City, who had suffered a goalless blip against Huddersfield Town on Sunday, take their season’s total to 97 points, eclipsing Chelsea’s Premier League-era record of 95 set in 2004-05.

United manager Benitez felt that his team should have had two penalties at Wembley.

With Newcastle and Brighton already safe, all three promoted teams have avoided relegation this season. His loan spell from the West London club comes to an end prematurely due to ineligibility.

Chelsea, which plays at Newcastle, is two points behind fourth-place Liverpool, which hosts Brighton.