James Maddison celebrated his place in England’s Euro 24 squad with a goal, but his celebrations were in vain as Newcastle defeated Tottenham on penalties in a post-season friendly watched by 78,000 fans in Melbourne on Wednesday. We won against Hotspur.
Playing just 48 hours after making the long journey from London at the end of the Premier League season, both teams still put on an entertaining show at the cavernous Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Spurs took the lead through Maddison after 32 minutes and Alexander Isak scored to equalise just before half-time.
Due to heavy substitutions after the interval, neither team was able to produce a winner and the match ended 1-1 and went to penalties, which seemed to come as a surprise to the players.
Spurs winger Brian Gill’s opener was thwarted and Newcastle made no mistake as they won 5-4.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said: “It was a decent game. Everything was good in the first half, but in the second half it felt like a friendly.” “But I think there was enough there for the punters to get something out of the game.”
It was a solid effort on a chilly night, considering both teams boarded a plane just hours after the season ended on Sunday and essentially lost on Monday’s 24-hour journey.
Eddie Howe started eight games for Newcastle’s team, which beat Brentford on Sunday, and also started eight for Spurs, who beat Sheffield United.
Among them were Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier and Maddison, who came through unscathed to the relief of England manager Gareth Southgate.
Both players were included in England’s Euro 2024 provisional squad this week, which also included Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon, who did not travel to Australia to recover from a calf injury.
Spurs enjoyed much of the early possession but had few chances and got their first real shot in the 21st minute when Maddison fired a long-range shot wide of the target.
But Postecoglou’s side continued to press and a sloppy clearance from Newcastle keeper Nick Pope gave them the lead, with Maddison dribbling past both men and curling the ball into the top corner.
A few minutes later Pope made up for it with a close-range save to keep Newcastle alive, and just before half-time Swedish striker Isaac converted Jacob Murphy’s low cross from close range to equalize.
A series of changes in the second half saw the standard drop as both teams searched for a winner, with Spurs seeing most of the ball without being able to land a decisive blow.
Tottenham’s season is now over, but Newcastle will play another friendly against the A-League All Stars in Melbourne on Friday.
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