Tottenham 5 Newcastle 1: Spurs lay down gauntlet to Arsenal with dominant display to highlight top four credentials

YOU can see why Antonio Conte now believes in miracles.

The Italian said on Friday that after initially being unconvinced, he is now of the mind that Tottenham CAN achieve the “miracle” of a top-four finish.

And after witnessing his side wipe the floor with Newcastle – despite going a goal behind – it is clear why he has been won over.

Fabian Schar’s free-kick on 39 minutes had threatened to derail their Champions League dream.

But it only spurred Conte’s men on as they hit back with four goals in 20 minutes, three of which came from defenders.

Ben Davies headed home the equaliser just before the break and Matt Doherty nodded Tottenham in front just after it.

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Son Heung-Min put the result beyond doubt soon after with a clinical finish, before Emerson Royal hooked home Doherty’s cross to make it four.

Steven Bergwijn got in on the act off the bench to make it a rout. 

Conte celebrated in typically barmy style for all of his side’s goals, knowing just how important they were to achieving their top-four ambition.

Crucially, the impressive result lifted Tottenham into fourth place on goal difference over arch-rivals Arsenal.

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Mikel Arteta’s side do have two games in hand but the pressure will certainly be on ahead of a tricky trip to Crystal Palace on Monday.

While the North London derby at Spurs is still yet to be scheduled.

If Spurs can win that, given their favourable run-in, then Conte will not just be hoping to take them back to the Champions League but expecting it.

Doherty’s goal and assist made him the star of the show, a year on from when he had been axed from the match-day squad at Aston Villa by Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese had wanted to make a point to his underperforming squad and Doherty was not named among the nine subs.

Due to Covid restrictions at the time, the Irishman was left stuck on the team bus until the game kicked off in one of the most humiliating moments of his underwhelming Spurs career.

Doherty revealed he had considered driving off on his own that day but his professional instincts saw him stick it out – and now he is reaping the rewards under Conte.

Injuries to Sergio Reguilon and Ryan Sessegnon meant he was not even playing in his natural position of right wing-back, but shunted out to the left.

But he got on with it and put in a performance that will have gone a long way to winning over the doubters around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs dominated early on and threatened via a bobbled effort from Harry Kane and an off-target Eric Dier free-kick.

Newcastle came back into it and almost took the lead under ex-Arsenal starlet Joe Willock midway through the first half.

The midfielder plucked a wayward Jonjo Shelvey shot out of the air, waltzed round Dier but saw his goalbound shot denied by Cristian Romero’s stunning block.

The £50million centre-back was back putting in a committed display in a Spurs shirt after yet another eventful international break.

He was banned for a game against Ecuador yet Argentina had hoped they could have the suspension overturned so called him up anyway.

Their unlikely bid failed and Romero returned to England from his long-haul trip without playing a single minute.

Still, after previous breaks had left him with injury and Covid issues, it could have been worse from Spurs’ perspective and his performance here suggested no signs of fatigue.

Newcastle took the lead when Willock was tripped on the edge of the area and Schar beat the wall and Hugo Lloris with the resulting free-kick.

Yet the lead lasted just four minutes.

The visitors failed to clear a corner properly, allowing Kane to lay back to set-piece taker Son, whose pinpoint delivery was flicked into the net by Davies.

Conte raucously punched the air, before arguing with fourth official Graham Scott over straying out of his technical area.

The spicy touchline atmosphere extended to the pitch as well as just before the interval, Allan Saint-Maximin got into a tete-a-tete with Rodrigo Bentancur and a melee ensued.

Both players were booked, as was Joelinton for his role in the scuffle.

Half-time served only as a brief interlude to the drama as Spurs retook the lead just three minutes into the second period.

Goal-scorer Schar needlessly gave the ball away and Kane had the time to fire a low ball to the far post, where Doherty raced past the slack Javi Manquillo and headed home.

Son killed the game off when completing a blistering counter-attack sparked by Dejan Kulusevski with a thumping strike.

Doherty then played a neat one-two with Juventus loanee Kulusevski before picking out Emerson to steer in off the post.

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Lucas Moura teed up fellow sub Bergwijn for number five, to leave Toon boss Eddie Howe feeling thankful that his side are already nine points clear of the drop zone.

Meanwhile Conte was grinning like a Cheshire cat after watching his side show the same kind of belief that he now has as they chase a top-four finish.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk