It was a long way from being the most fluent performance of the Mauricio Pochettino era and there were times, particularly during a fraught first half, when the Tottenham could imagine the worst-case scenario that their team would contrive to lose their grip on Champions League qualification. But the mood and the match turned on one swish of Harry Kane’s boot early in the second half and with Chelsea failing to beat Huddersfield Town at Stamford Bridge, it turned into a night of celebration. For the third season in succession Pochettino has led Spurs into Europe’s elite competition and, given the budgets he has had to work with, nobody can say it is not an outstanding achievement.
Happily for all concerned, the club’s new stadium, into which they will move next season, will begin life as a Champions League venue. Spurs will finish as the top team in London for the first time since 1994-95 and they will wrap up third place if they beat Leicester City at Wembley on Sunday. Pochettino had declared this match to be about the mentality of his players and they found a way to chisel out the result. Newcastle were proactive and they created plenty of opportunities and Rafael Benítez complained about the non-award of two penalties for his team – the biggest shout coming when Hugo Lloris caught Matt Ritchie in the 58th minute.
The Newcastle manager was entitled to say that “100% we deserved something” but, in the end, it was another occasion to illustrate why he wants his board to break the bank for a dead-eyed striker. The chances came and the chances went, with the substitute Jacob Murphy blowing a gilt-edged opportunity on 72 minutes. Kane has still to rediscover the red-hot form he showed before his ankle injury in March and his air-kick for an attempted volley when gloriously placed in the 40th minute summed up both his and the team’s travails before the interval. But he dug deep and found a way to make the difference.
It was an excellent finish, swept high inside Martin Dubravka’s near post after Son Heung-min had drawn three Newcastle defenders to him and popped the ball back to Kane. The England striker now has 28 Premier League goals – three short of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. The Golden Boot race could yet go to the wire.
