Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Newcastle United - 3 Talking Points as Magpies register shock victory

Tottenham Hotspur hosted Newcastle United in an attempt to return to winning ways, after being held to a 2-2 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad last week.

Steve Bruce's side lost both their Premier League games, but the Tyneside club registered a shock 1-0 victory away from home. Joelinton's first-half strike was the difference as the Magpies defended resolutely to get off the mark for the season.

Spurs' record signing Tanguy Ndombele was missing with a minor issue and the North Londoners missed him dearly in the centre of the park as they fell flat against a determined Newcastle side.

Allan Saint-Maximin started his first game for Newcastle but the Frenchman was withdrawn early in the game with a suspected hamstring injury.

Christian Atsu came off the bench to replace him and the Ghanaian winger made a decisive contribution, registering an assist for the only goal of the game.

As Newcastle United got their season underway with a narrow 1-0 victory, the game was a tightly contested affair as the away side defended with all their might after scoring a first-half goal.

On that note, let's look at some of the talking points from the game.

#1 Joelinton gets off the mark for Newcastle United

Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United - Premier League

Newcastle United shattered their transfer record for Brazilian striker Joelinton this summer, with the Tyneside club paying a whopping £45 million to acquire his services from Hoffenheim. The 23-year-old got off the mark for his new club with a well-taken goal in the first half, as he latched on to Christian Atsu's through ball to finish calmly past Hugo Lloris.

After losing the likes of Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez this summer, Steve Bruce's side found goals hard to come by as they scored just once in 180 minutes of Premier League football this season leading up to this clash.

Joelinton's timely strike comes as a massive boost for Newcastle and the former Hoffenheim man will look to carry on the momentum to ease his side's goal-scoring woes.

#2 Newcastle United defended with all their might

After taking the lead through Joelinton, Newcastle faced an uphill battle to protect their lead against Spurs' feared front-four of Harry Kane, Lucas Moura, Erik Lamela and Son Heung-Min. Despite their best efforts, the home side failed to score on the night as Newcastle registered an unexpected victory.

The fact that the Magpies kept a clean sheet against last season's Champions League finalists is a testament to how well they defended on the night.

Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles and Paul Dummett started at the heart of the defence for the Tyneside club and the trio played out of their skins to registered a morale-boosting victory against a top-six side.

Steve Bruce's side came into the clash fresh from a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Norwich City but their performance on the night was in stark contrast to last weekend's defeat against the newly-promoted side.

#3 Spurs lacked the cutting edge upfront

Newcastle United scored an early goal against the run of play and proceeded to sit back to protect their lead. The home side could not penetrate the low-block despite their best efforts as their attackers failed to make an impression in the game.

Mauricio Pochettino opted to start with four attackers, with the likes of Harry Kane, Erik Lamela, Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son all a part of a terrorizing front-four for the home side.

Harry Kane had a meagre 24 touches and with his side chasing the game for a sizable period, the Englishman failed to deliver the goods and did not register a single shot on target.

Spurs looked to their talisman for inspiration on a night where chances were far and few, but the England captain was largely ineffective against a resolute Newcastle back-line.

Lucas Moura was involved in two of the biggest chances of the game for Spurs, as the Brazilian winger missed two big chances either side of half-time. On the balance of play, Newcastle ran out deserved winners but the home side lacked the cutting edge in front of goal.