Antonio Conte's interesting two word assessment of Newcastle United following 5-1 defeat at Tottenham

Newcastle took the lead through a Fabian Schar free-kick before goals from Ben Davies, Matt Doherty, Heung-Min Son, Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn saw the home side claim a comfortable win.

It was a third straight Premier League defeat for Newcastle as Spurs moved up to fourth. And Conte felt Newcastle were ‘well prepared’ despite letting the game get away from them in the second half.

“The plan was very clear [from Newcastle],” he said. “Defend deep and exploit players like [Allan] Saint-Maximin and [Ryan] Fraser on the counter-attack.

“It was good to score the second goal because it forced Newcastle to play and concede a bit of space.”

He added: "When you see your team play this way, you enjoy. We played a really good game. Newcastle is not easy to face them.

"They try to be compact and deep to not concede great space. Despite that we went 1-0 down and scored. In the second half we controlled the game and had the chances to secure the result.

"Newcastle is well prepared and have good players. We are in a good moment. The team is growing in every aspect. The work we are doing is paying off.

"It is important for me as I see the players every day the commitment of my players. A good result is important for the trust in the work we are doing. Sometimes it is hard work but when you see this you trust in what you are doing.”

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