Eddie Howe responds to Man Utd claim after Newcastle United thrash Spurs 4-0

Newcastle United’s search for European qualification took a positive step forward with a 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon.

Two strikes from Alexander Isak along with goals from Anthony Gordon and Fabian Schar saw The Magpies claim a convincing victory against a Spurs side who started the day sitting fourth in the table. The result saw Ange Postecoglou’s side drop to fifth on goal difference while Newcastle climbed temporarily up to sixth and above West Ham United and Manchester United in the table.

Man United face Bournemouth in the evening kick-off while West Ham play Fulham on Sunday. Manchester United are the only side Newcastle have never finished above in the Premier League era.

And when asked if his side could finally buck that trend this season, Howe responded: “Who knows, we've just got to keep doing our bit which is trying to win every game.

“We're hopefully returning to somewhere near our best and we've got to keep heading in that direction." The Magpies have six games remaining between now and the end of the season, including a trip to Old Trafford. Aside from the game against Man United and the home match against Brighton, Newcastle’s other matches are all against sides currently sitting in the bottom seven in the Premier League.

Howe masterminded a 6-1 win over Spurs at St James’ Park last season and has added to it with another big win against the North London side.

“Tottenham are unique in what they do and we felt we needed to change to give ourselves the best chance of what we wanted to do,” Howe told TNT Sports. “I thought tactically it worked, it was a really good delivery from the players, they always deserve the praise for the execution. Our concentration levels were really good.”

Howe made two changes to his side from the 1-0 win at Fulham last weekend with Elliot Anderson and Harvey Barnes coming in for Joe Willock and Lewis Hall.

“I think the emergence of some of the players people wouldn't have thought would have played will hopefully serve us well for the next few years,” Howe added. “Elliott Anderson was excellent, he's been trying to burst into the team and stay in the team.”