Tottenham will spend at least 24 hours in the top four. Antonio Conte’s men beat Newcastle United 5-1 at home on Sunday night to leapfrog rivals Arsenal into the final UEFA Champions League spot for the time being.
While the scoreline suggests otherwise, the Magpies scored first through defender Fabian Schar. The Swiss international slammed the ball low past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris from a dead-ball situation in the 39th minute, sparking delirium in the away end. However, their lead lasted just four minutes as Ben Davies brought Spurs level in the 43rd by flicking Son Heung-min’s deadly cross into the far corner.
Three minutes after the restart, Tottenham took the lead. Harry Kane peeled off to the right flank before delivering a dangerous cross across the Newcastle box; Son missed his cue, but right-back Matt Doherty arrived just in time to head the ball past Martin Dubravka in goal.
Things only got worse for Newcastle hereafter. Son sealed the points for Spurs as he collected a cross from Dejan Kulusevski and fired it into the top corner – 54 minutes in. Emerson Royal scored his first Tottenham goal in the 63rd minute as he touched in a cross from Doherty, putting his side 4-1 up in the process. Substitute Steven Bergwijn capped off the win in the 83rd minute when he collected a pass from Lucas Moura and slotted it confidently past the goalkeeper.
Elsewhere, West Ham beat relegation-threatened Everton 2-1, courtesy of goals from Aaron Cresswell and Jarrod Bowen. The former opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, as he fired in an unstoppable free-kick past Jordan Pickford in goal.
However, Mason Holgate – a late entrant in the starting eleven due to Donny van de Beek’s injury in the warm-up – volleyed the Toffees back level after the break after being set up by Richarlison.
Bowen, back in the first eleven after a short injury layoff, put his side back in front in the 58th minute – five minutes after Holgate had equalized. The Englishman followed through after Pickford had denied Michail Antonio the initial chance to score.
Yet another defeat for Everton means that the Toffees have now lost seven of their last eleven across all competitions – the threat of relegation still looming large in the background.
