Two goals from Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero earned Thomas Frank’s side a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United at St James’s Park.
The Argentine scored twice late on, his second five minutes into stoppage time, to level the scores in a game largely dominated by the home side.
A late Newcastle penalty looked to have given Eddie Howe’s side a 2-1 victory. Rodrigo Bentancur was adjudged to have fouled Dan Burn at a corner, and substitute Anthony Gordon converted from the spot.
Spurs had already earlier equalised against the run of play when Romero found himself in the right place at the right time to head home Mohamed Kudos’ inviting cross.
His goal had levelled the scores after Newcastle had taken the lead when another substitute, Bruno Guimaeres, slotted home with a smart finish following neat work from Nick Woltemade.
Ultimately, though, Newcastle will feel it was a case of two points dropped, while it’s now five league games without a win for Thomas Frank's Tottenham.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe: “We weren’t at our best today but we battled into a position where I felt we should have won the game. We were in the ascendancy and had some good chances. We battled in the first half and their keeper made some good saves. The first goal took a while to come and we weren’t at our best in an attacking sense, but we just needed to defend the corner better at the end.”
Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank: “Our performance showed fantastic character. It has been a tough week, our fourth game in 10 days and at Newcastle, which is a difficult place to come. We were poor in the first 25 minutes and we suffered, but after that we were better. We bounced back and reacted to setbacks well. Our fans, all 3,000 of them here on a Tuesday night, were fantastic.”
Cristian Romero on his two goals: “The first goal was very important. The last three or four games we haven’t been good enough and it has been hard, but tonight we played together and showed a good mentality. The second … I quite often see Lionel Messi do that in training when with Argentina!”
Newcastle United player ratings
Aaron Ramsdale -5/10: The 27-year-old made his home debut and was a bystander for much of the game, with most of the play happening in the opposite half. He could do little about Romero’s header, but should have done better to deny the Argentine’s overhead kick.
Tino Livramento - 7/10: Brought pace and energy to the Newcastle flank and made clever runs beyond the defensive line.
Malik Thiaw - 5/10: Tottenham’s propensity for crossing the ball into the Newcastle area made life pretty straight forward for the German. Could have done better with Tottenham’s second.
Dan Burn - 5/10: Looked more composed in the centre than his recent spell at full-back. However, though he won most of his aerial headers, he was beaten to the ball for Romero’s equaliser.
Lewis Hall -7/10: Enjoyed a lively performance and, shortly after having the first effort on goal, he made a crucial block on the slide to deny a cross from Brennan Johnson.
Lewis Miley - 6/10: Warmed Vicario’s hands on the 20-minute mark with a solid effort from the edge of the area, a rare foray forward in an otherwise steady performance.
Joelinton - 5/10: Had the best chance of the first half when he got on the end of Jacob Murphy’s incisive pass into the area. From a tight angle, he cut the ball across Vicario’s goal only to see his effort rebound off the post. Tired after the break and should have been replaced earlier.
Sandro Tonali - 5/10: The Italian returned after having been rested against Everton at the weekend but struggled to find a way past Tottenham’s low block. Was replaced at the break.
Jacob Murphy - 5/10: Wasteful from Newcastle’s right, though he unlocked Tottenham’s defence with one pass that enabled Joelinton to fire goalwards.
Nick Woltemade - 6/10: The German, who scored against Spurs 34 days ago, was a nuisance throughout. Though restricted to few chances, of which his best was a header in the opening exchanges, his hold-up play was superb. He teed up Guimaraes for the first goal of the night.
Harvey Barnes - 6/10: Formed part of an aggressive press on the left hand side with Hall that put Porro under pressure on several occasions. Forced Vicario into an early save in the second half.
Substitutes
Bruno Guimaraes (Tonali, 46') - 7/10: The Brazilian made a dramatic impact when he came on, breaking the deadlock when he stroked home from just inside the area following Woltemade’s neat lay off.
Anthony Elanga (Murphy, 67') - 4/10: Ineffectual after coming on, the winger struggled to get into the game.
Anthony Gordon (Barnes, 67') - 6/10: His introduction lifted the home crowd and his penalty looked to have sealed all three points until Tottenham’s late equaliser.
Fabian Schar (Miley, 93') - N/A: His presence made for a five-man defence that was designed – unsuccessfully – to hold strong in the closing stages.
Tottenham Hotspur player ratings
Guglielmo Vicario - 6/10: Could do little about either goal and, until Guimaraes’ opener, had done everything asked of him, including smart saves from Hall and Barnes. Better from the Italian.
Pedro Porro - 4/10: The Spaniard had a tough evening against Barnes. At one point, he tried a back-heel in his own half which immediately put his defence under pressure. His greatest contribution was superb defending to deny Murphy on the break midway through the second half.
Sergio Romero - 7/10: Erratic at times, the Argentine was far from his best in defensive areas, but he popped up at the other end with two goals. First, he got in front of Dan Burn to convert Kudos’ cross for his first Premier League goal of the season. His second was an overhead kick that somehow evaded Ramsdale.
Kevin Danso - 6/10: Arguably the best of Tottenham’s backline, he made a vital intervention on the line to deny Woltemade on the stroke of half-time.
Destiny Udogie - 4/10: Often overlapped Johnson but had very little going on ahead of him. Disappointing evening.
Rodrigo Bentancur - 4/10: A poor game for the Uruguayan was confounded when he was adjudged to have fouled Dan Burn in the last five minutes. Though he wasn’t looking at Burn when he was alledged to have wrestled him to the floor, the decision seemed harsh.
Pape Matar Sarr - 4/10: Struggled in his deeper midfield position and was often overrun, or struggled when under pressure with the ball at his feet.
Lucas Bergvall - 6/10: Tottenham’s shining light, he looked to be the only player in a yellow shirt capable of creating anything of note. He came closest for the visitors with a neat flick that finished just over the bar from Kudos’ cross.
Mohammed Kudus - 5/10: Enjoyed a lot of the ball in attacking wide positions but was often guilty of slowing the game down, cutting back onto his left foot before crossing the ball towards Newcastle’s height-dominant central pairing. However, while his distribution was poor for much of the night, his cross for Tottenham’s equaliser was laser-accurate.
Brennan Johnson - 3/10: Largely anonymous, though he made some decent runs that weren’t picked up by his teammates. He did, though, make a decisive block to deny Livramento from the edge of the area.
Randal Kolo-Muani - 6/10: Looked promising when playing wide on the left but was often isolated when playing centrally. Showed glimpses of promise on a night when he had very little service.
Substitutes
Matthys Tel (Johnson, 77') - 4/10: Didn’t see much of the ball after coming on.
Richarlison (Kolo-Muani, 77) - 3/10: The Brazilian offered very little and was lucky to avoid a yellow card after diving in the area.
Xavi Simons (Bergvall, 77') - 4/10: Came on to help Spurs chase the game, which was a big ask considering Tottenham’s attacking players saw little of the ball.
Wilson Odobert (Kudos, 87') - N/A: Had little time to impress but will hope for more game time against Brentford.
Archie Gray (Sarr, 87') - N/A: A late substitution who had few touches.
