Newcastle United underlined their ability to move forward without Sandro Tonali as they secured a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, delivering a difficult return for the Italian midfielder against his former club.
Tonali, who joined Spurs last month in a deal worth up to £100m, was substituted late in the contest as away fans mocked him with chants asking for the score. It was far from the emotional reunion the midfielder had hoped for, having admitted beforehand that he expected to feel unusually nervous facing his old teammates for the first time.
Newcastle head coach Matthias Jaissle, however, was careful not to overstate the significance of the result, which represented his first Premier League win since replacing Eddie Howe just a month ago. "We have our own goals and we are clear with that," Jaissle said. "We are also realistic. Now you write everything is top, everything is great. We don't follow that too much. We are emotionally very stable and don't see the highs higher than it is now. It is a moment to enjoy as well after that start, but we are also smart enough to see a long journey ahead of us and there will be challenges as well."
Jaissle's appointment came during a turbulent period for the club, with Tonali sold, Anthony Gordon departing for Barcelona, and captain Bruno Guimaraes reportedly attracting interest from Arsenal, all shortly before the season began. Newcastle responded by bringing in seven new signings, including midfielder Nico Gonzalez, full-back Amar Dedic and goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek, at a combined cost comparable to the money received for Tonali. Notably, only Gonzalez had prior Premier League experience, and all the new arrivals are 24 or younger.
Despite their inexperience in England's top flight, several new faces made an immediate impact. Hornicek produced three important saves in the first half, including a strong hand to deny Jan Paul van Hecke's header, while Lewis Hall blocked a goal-bound effort from Pedro Porro to help keep the score level at the break. "In the first half, we didn't play a really good game, but we could really count on everyone throwing everything into every ball and every cross," Jaissle said. "This is the commitment and belief that we can keep the clean sheet, so that makes me proud."
Newcastle emerged after halftime with renewed intent and made the most of their limited opportunities. The opening goal came from a raking crossfield pass by Gonzalez, who found the overlapping Dedic. His flick set up Anthony Elanga, who turned past Tonali inside the box before finishing off the post. Gonzalez explained the buildup was a rehearsed pattern: "It is something that I spoke about with the coach, even before the game. He wanted me to see these kind of balls and I tried a few in the first half and the second half, and we scored. In the second half we said, 'we have to keep doing this' because it is really hard to defend players like Amar, a full-back that comes this fast from behind. Normally wingers don't defend these kind of balls very well. It's something that we have to keep doing and I hope it gives us many more goals this season."
Newcastle doubled their lead soon after when Sean Steur's corner was headed down by substitute Nick Woltemade, and Yoane Wissa finished with an acrobatic overhead kick. Wissa, who like Elanga struggled last season before improving under Jaissle, praised the new manager's approach. "He's a really dynamic manager so we need to give everything," Wissa told Sky Sports. "I think he's the best signing."
The win improved Newcastle's away form after a difficult run last season, when they claimed just four victories from 19 top-flight road matches and had not kept a clean sheet since March. Based on reporting from BBC Sport.