Tottenham Hotspur

Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham

Ben Arfa: Celebrates the winner

Ben Arfa: Celebrates the winner

Hatem Ben Arfa's penalty 10 minutes from time gave Alan Pardew's side the perfect start to the season as they beat Tottenham 2-1 at the Sports Direct Arena.

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This after Jermain Defoe had deservedly cancelled out Demba Ba's opener.

In what was a first half with limited chances, Newcastle had the first opportunity to break the deadlock when a shot from Papiss Cisse deflected off his strike partner, Ba, before just missing the left upright on 22 minutes.

Tottenham were unlucky not to go into the break in the lead, as Defoe struck the post with a low driving shot on 31 minutes, before Gareth Bale saw his header bounce off the crossbar just five minutes later.

It was the home side who broke the deadlock on 55 minutes when the ball fell to Ba in the box, before he produced a fine curling effort to beat keeper Brad Friedel.

Tottenham equalized in the 76th minute when Defoe saw his effort palmed off the post by Ruud Krul before the England striker reacted well to sweep home the rebound.

But Spurs were not level for long as they gave away a sloppy penalty three minutes later, when Ben Arfa was brought down in the area after defensive miscommunication between Aaron Lennon and Rafael van der Vaart. The Frenchman stepped up to coolly slot home the penalty.

The visitors failed to create any more chances of real substance and it was the Magpies who claimed the three points on the opening day.

Posted: 18/08/12 20:17

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