Author – Amrit Santlani
Newcastle beat Tottenham 6-1
Newcastle United achieved the most surprising result of the 32nd round of the Premier League by beating Tottenham Hotspur, another Champions League contender, 6-1 at St. James’ Park. A brilliant first-half performance saw Eddie Howe’s side take a 5-0 lead against the north Londoners. It took the home side just two minutes to open the scoring, when Joelinton was allowed to run into the Spurs box and his shot was saved by Hugo Lloris, before Jacob Murphy pounced on the rebound.
Before they could recover from the first goal, the visitors were two-nil down, with their defense completely shut down, allowing Joelinton to slip between the defenders and round Lloris to add another nail in the coffin. Before the clock had even ticked over 10 minutes, the game was already over, as Murphy unleashed a shot from 30 yards out that nestled into the bottom corner.
Alexander Isak then joined the party. He took advantage of a brilliant pass from Joe Willock to split the defence and finished calmly. In the 21st minute, Newcastle were leading 5-0, Isak completing both goals by scoring from close range.
Harry Kane at least got a consolation goal for the visiting fans to celebrate. But Howe’s team wasn’t finished yet. Callum Wilson pulled one back from close range after a move inside the Spurs box, and that came after Isak had narrowly missed his hat-trick by failing to divert Sean Longstoff’s cross towards goal. Ivan Perisic scored on the goal line to keep the score at 6-1 and save his team from further embarrassment.
Relentless West Ham thrashed Bournemouth 4-0 at Vitality
Few could have predicted that the mid-table clash between Bournemouth and West Ham would result in such a one-sided game. The Hammers were in command just five minutes after kick-off when their talismanic striker Michail Antonio headed in from close range after an early corner.
Lucas Paquetá added to the hosts’ woes when he rose highest to head home a teasing cross from Vladimir Coufal. Jefferson Lerma tried to get Bournemouth back into the contest, but his long-range effort was well saved by Lukas Fabianski. Dominic Solanke tested Fabianski again after a run into the West Ham box, but the goalkeeper made a smart save with his feet. Just before the end of the first half, Declan Rice put the game to bed with a sublime half-volley following another corner.
Pablo Fornals scored with a brilliant back heel to add more gloss to the scoreline, following a cross from Jarrod Bowen. Solanke also took inspiration from Fornals to deliver a provocative cross towards goal, with some improvisation, but Fabianski refused to be beaten and made another save to protect his clean sheet.