Alli fires Spurs past Newcastle
Newcastle (United Kingdom), Aug. 13: Dele Alli fired Tottenham to a 2-0 victory at Newcastle on Sunday after the England midfielder was involved in the crucial dismissal of Magpies midfielder Jonjo Shelvey.
Shelvey was shown a second half red card for deliberately treading on Alli, who was on the ground only yards from referee Andre Marriner.
Tottenham capitalised by scoring through Alli and then Ben Davies to open their Premier League campaign with a comfortable three points at St James’ Park.
After finishing second last season, Tottenham will hope their winning start bodes well for a sustained title challenge.
It added up to a frustrating return to the Premier League for promoted Newcastle, who had competed well until Shelvey’s needless dismissal.
Until the red card, this encounter between two teams whose supporters have been critical of their lack of transfer investment was in danger of meandering towards a goalless stalemate.
Newcastle’s net spend has been less than £20 million, while Tottenham opted not to make even
City’s Gabriel Jesus had two goals ruled out — for handball and offside — and Pep Guardiola’s team struggled to break a stubborn Brighton side down until Aguero fired home a pass from David Silva to open the scoring in the 70th minute.
Five minutes later, Brighton defender Dunk slammed a header into his own net as he tried to clear a cross under pressure from Jesus, with the home side lacking the firepower to mount a comeback in the closing stages.
In the end it turned into a routine win for Spaniard Guardiola, who gave debuts to four of his new signings. England full back Kyle Walker was a constant menace on the right flank and was man of the match. — AFP