Newcastle United 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Magpies cruise to Carabao Cup quarter-finals | OneFootball

The holders of the Carabao Cup continued their title-defence after beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at St. James’ Park.

Newcastle broke the deadlock through the efforts of Fabian Schär, and Nick Woltemade doubled the lead early in the second half.

Spurs’ poor record at St. James’ park continued as they were kept at bay by Aaron Ramsdale who secured his first clean sheet for the Magpies.

As it happened

Newcastle created the game’s first opportunity via a free kick from the left side, with Malick Thiaw heading straight at Antonín Kinský at the back post after Sandro Tonali’s delivery.

The Magpies continued the pressure as Jacob Ramsey found his way into the Spurs box and saw his effort blocked by Rodrigo Bentancur.

The hosts soon had another opportunity as Woltemade dribbled past two defenders and played Harvey Barnes onside, who aimed for the near corner and hit the side netting.

Eddie Howe’s side finally capitalised on the early advantage in the 24th minute and it was Schär who made the breakthrough. The Swiss international rose highest in the box and got on the end of Tonali’s corner before diverting the ball past Kinský.

The visitors’ front line came to life on the half-hour mark, as Lucas Bergvall played the ball across the face of the goal to Richarlison, who ran onto the ball too early and failed to pull off the shot.

Just minutes later, the Brazilian had one more opportunity as he stretched for Pedro Porro’s low cross on the back post, only to arrive a fraction too late and made no contact.

It took 39 minutes for Spurs to test Ramsdale, and Kevin Danso’s strike from outside the box became merely a warm-up for the Englishman.

And soon it was nearly another goal for the Magpies as Tonali clipped in a beautiful ball into the box. Thiaw stayed onside and got on the end of the cross before squaring the ball across to Barnes, whose scissor kick deflected off the crossbar.

Richarlison had his best opportunity of the half in stoppage time, but failed to capitalise once more, heading straight into the hands of the Newcastle stopper.

And there was time for one more Spurs chance before the break, as Ramsdale was forced into another save, tipping Xavi Simons’ cross over the bar and preserving Newcastle’s half-time lead.

The hosts started the second half on the front foot, and Joe Willock had his first opportunity, but failed to adjust his header and saw the ball sail away from goal.

The Magpies deserved more than one goal in the first half and doubled their lead just five minutes after the interval via the in-form Woltemade. Willock floated the ball towards the six-yard box, where Kinský completely lost his position, allowing the German striker to head into the empty net and earn his fifth goal for the club.

Spurs committed more players forward after conceding, but Newcastle looked threatening on the counter as Willock saw his shot fly wide of the right post.

Thomas Frank’s side started to look livelier on the hour mark and nearly halved the deficit. Simons offloaded the ball on the edge of the box to Pape Matar Sarr, whose powerful strike was nestling towards the bottom corner, but Ramsdale dived in time to apply a crucial save.

Richarlison continued to be Tottenham’s main threat, but it just wasn’t to be for the striker, as Ramsdale denied his close-range shot after a well-timed cross by Porro.

Down the other end, Howe’s side could have easily secured the win with 20 minutes to go as Danso got in the way of Anthony Elanga’s cross and nearly headed into his own net, with the ball narrowly evading the corner.

Richarlison’s tally for the night reached five shots on target, yet he was kept at bay once more by Ramsdale and then immediately taken off by Frank.

Newcastle kept Tottenham at bay in the final stages of the game, comfortably securing their place in the next round.

The line-ups:

NEW: Ramsdale, Krafth, Schär, Thiaw, Burn, Willock, Tonali, Ramsey, Elanga, Barnes, Woltemade