THE FANS’ VERDICT

TOM BORE (readnewcastle.com)

An encouraging start. Kenedy’s willingness to run at the Spurs defence was great to watch. Tactically the team looked very well drilled but Rafa Benitez needs to work on set pieces. STAR MAN: KENEDY

BARNABY SLATER (www.barnabyslater.com)

It wasn’t pretty but many of our players have only just returned to training. It would have been easy to drop points but we showed our mettle. STAR MAN: DELE ALLI