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Newcastle United's Alexander Isak score past Tottenham's Brandon Austin during their English Premier League football match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Saturday Jan. 4, 2025. (John Walton/PA via AP).
Alexander Isak scored in a seventh straight Premier League game to earn Newcastle a 2-1 win at injury-hit Tottenham on Saturday.
The Sweden striker grabbed the 38th-minute winner and there was a hint of fortune about it, with Tottenham defender Radu Drăgușin getting the slightest of touches on a cross and deflecting the ball onto the foot of Isak.
The ball dribbled into the net for Isak's 13th goal of the season, and ninth in his past seven games.
Thomas Tuchel was watching in the stands at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in his first scouting mission in his role as the recently hired England coach. Two players likely to be in his first squad, to be announced in March for World Cup qualifiers, got on the score sheet in the opening six minutes.
Dominic Solanke headed Tottenham ahead in the fourth minute, before Anthony Gordon drove home a low shot soon after to equalize. Gordon's goal was awarded despite the ball hitting teammate Joelinton's arm in the build-up.
It was a fifth straight win for fifth-place Newcastle, while Tottenham stayed in the bottom half of the standings with just one point from its last four games.
Tottenham fielded third-choice goalkeeper Brandon Austin for his debut and a makeshift back four because of a mixture of injuries and illnesses.
Later, second-place Arsenal visits Brighton seeking a win to move three points behind Liverpool and struggling defending champion Manchester City hosts West Ham.
There are seven matches in total on Saturday to start the the first full round of Premier League games in 2025.
