Bruno Guimaraes’ Newcastle United devotion and Kieran Trippier’s contrasting Spurs reception – moments missed

Bruno Guimaraes’ commitment to the cause after ‘sleepless nights’

It was a whirlwind weekend for Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes as he celebrated the birth of his first child on Friday evening before celebrating three points less than 48 hours later. The 24-year-old didn’t travel with the squad down to London in order to spend time with his partner Ana and newborn son Matteo and it appeared unclear whether he’d be involved at Spurs.

But Guimaraes showed impressive commitment to Newcastle as he travelled down individually on Saturday evening and joined up with his team-mates ahead of the match.

He kept his place in the starting line-up as head coach Eddie Howe made just one change to the side that beat Everton 1-0 at St James’s Park in midweek.

Jacob Murphy dropped to the bench in place of Joe Willock, with Joelinton moving out to the left wing in Murphy’s place.

Following the match, Guimaraes told Sky Sports: "They've been amazing days for me, to become a father for the first time.

"It's been incredible. I've had two days without sleep. I would stay home but I love to be here with these guys. They make me happy and proud, and I think we deserved it today."

Kieran Trippier’s contrasting reception on his Tottenham Hotspur return

It was Kieran Trippier’s first game back at Tottenham since leaving the club to join Atletico Madrid in 2019.

The England right-back missed last season's 5-1 defeat at Spurs due to injury but led The Magpies out on Sunday afternoon and helped them secure an impressive win.

Trippier made over 100 appearances for Tottenham over four seasons and the home supporters showed their appreciation prior to kick-off as his name was met with a warm applause when read out over the PA.

But things changed once Newcastle took the lead and started to frustrate Spurs. As Trippier walked over to take a corner in the second half with United well on their way to securing three points, he was the subject of frustrated jeers from the Spurs fans.

Once again, Newcastle had gone away to a top Premier League side and got under the skin of the home supporters with their performance. And Trippier won’t mind one bit after coming away with three points on his return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

VAR plays an intriguing role

There were some key decisions both made and missed by the video assistant referee on Sunday afternoon.

Newcastle’s first decent opportunity of the match saw Fabian Schar brilliantly find Joelinton inside the penalty area only for the Brazilian to be bundled over in the box by Emerson Royal.

Nothing was given by referee Jared Gillett and a VAR check didn’t prompt an intervention. Though when Newcastle did find the net through Callum Wilson, VAR was all over it.

The goal prompted three separate VAR checks. One for Wilson being offside, another for a potential foul and one more for a potential handball.

A foul check was understandable given Wilson clearly collided with the onrushing Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris outside of the penalty area, but there appeared to be no obvious foul made. Although the Spurs players were quick to protest that the goal should be disallowed, both the referee and VAR felt otherwise.

Two key VAR calls in two minutes risked turning the game on its head in the second half as Newcastle were denied another penalty. Once again it involved Joelinton and Emerson Royal as the United player headed the ball onto the Spurs defender’s arm.

Although Emerson Royal knew little about it, his arm was in an unnatural position – not dissimilar for Dan Burn’s penalised handball against Brentford a fortnight prior.

A penalty would have provided Newcastle with a key opportunity to make it 3-0, but nothing was given and Spurs quickly went to the other end and pulled a goal back.

Harry Kane headed the ball in from close range, prompting yet another VAR check. Kane appeared to be in an offside position as he made contact with the ball but the check showed that no clear touch had been made by Davinson Sanchez, deeming Kane onside.

Callum Wilson’s ‘joke’ as Miguel Almiron gets his shoe ‘shined’

Miguel Almiron just can't stop scoring for Newcastle at the moment. His fifth goal in as many Premier League matches put Newcastle 2-0 ahead as he burst into the box and finished through Lloris’ legs from a tight angle.

The Paraguayan’s fine scoring form was made clear in his celebration as Joelinton went over to ‘polish’ his boot. Ironically, the notoriously ‘one-footed’ Almiron placed his right boot on Joelinton’s knee despite all five of his goals in October scored with his significantly stronger left foot.

As Almiron found space inside the box, Wilson shouted for him to drag the ball back. Almiron ignored Wilson and opted to go for goal himself – and it’s just as well he found the net or he may have faced the wrath of Newcastle's No. 9.

“He’s on fire at the moment,” Wilson admitted, before joking. “If he didn’t score, I was going to kill him, to be honest [laughs]. I was square for a tap in but no, it’s a great finish!”

Newcastle United stop Spurs’ impressive streak

Spurs’ impressive run of form on home turf came to an end on Sunday. Newcastle’s 2-1 win ended a run of 10 straight wins for Antonio Conte’s side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

If Howe’s side moving into the top four wasn’t encouraging enough, taking three points at Spurs shows they are certainly capable of mixing with the so-called ‘big boys’ this season.

It’s just a case of keeping up the good work.