Tonali cost Tottenham a club record, and Newcastle’s away end waved him off at 2-0

Sandro Tonali cost Tottenham more than any player in their history. On Saturday evening the Newcastle supporters he left behind booed him through his first game against them, waved him off when he was substituted, and then watched their side win 2-0 in his new stadium.

Anthony Elanga scored in the 62nd minute and Yoane Wissa in the 72nd. Two games into the season, Tottenham have no points and no goals.

Ten minutes that settled it

Elanga’s goal was a finish on the spin, and it came at the point in the second half where Newcastle had begun to look the more likely of the two.

The second was worse for Tottenham because of how avoidable it was. A deep corner was not dealt with and Wissa hooked it in acrobatically. For a team that has now conceded five in two matches, it was the kind of goal that says more than the scoreline does.

Tonali’s first game back

Tottenham paid Newcastle £92.5 million with another £7.5 million in add-ons for Tonali in July. It is a club record for Spurs and the second-biggest fee Newcastle have ever received. Tonali said at the time that Roberto De Zerbi had played a huge role in his decision to come.

Newcastle’s away end had been waiting two months for this. He was booed relentlessly, and when his number went up they made a point of waving him off. Being a £100 million midfielder does not protect you from that. Being 2-0 down while it happens makes it considerably worse.

Newcastle keep doing this to Spurs

Elanga is the first Newcastle player to score in the club’s opening two Premier League games of a season since Alan Shearer in 2003-04. Wissa now has three goals in his last four league appearances against Tottenham, which is a useful thing to rediscover after a difficult season.

The wider pattern is worse if you support Spurs. This was Newcastle’s fourth win in their last five Premier League visits to Tottenham, and their 14th away league win against them, more than they have managed against any other opponent in the competition.

De Zerbi has questions to answer

De Zerbi made five changes from the side beaten 3-0 at Brentford on the opening weekend, the first time Tottenham have made that many between consecutive Premier League matches. It did not work. He called the result “unfair” afterwards, which is the sort of thing a manager says when he thinks the performance deserved better, though a team that has not scored in 180 minutes of football will not get much sympathy for it.

Spurs are 20th. Newcastle, who spent the summer selling Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon, are third, and Matthias Jaissle has his first Premier League win as their manager. He got it in the ground where Tottenham have just spent more money than they ever have.

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