Tottenham Hotspur’s miserable run continued as they slumped to a 2-1 home defeat against Newcastle United, stretching their winless league streak to eight matches and piling further pressure on head coach Thomas Frank.

Both sides arrived in north London on the back of disappointing weekend results, knowing a response was required. It was Eddie Howe’s Newcastle who reacted more sharply, starting on the front foot and almost taking an early lead when Joe Willock’s drive from the edge of the area skimmed just wide of the post.

The growing frustration inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was palpable, and Harvey Barnes added to the unease when his clever flick forced Guglielmo Vicario into a comfortable save — a warning that the visitors were not about to ease off.

Newcastle thought they had broken the deadlock just before the interval. Willock raced in behind the Spurs defence, cut inside and curled a superb finish into the far corner, only for a VAR review to rule the goal out for the narrowest of offsides in the build-up.

That reprieve proved short-lived. With virtually the final action of the first half, Malick Thiaw’s powerful header was brilliantly kept out by Vicario, but the defender reacted quickest to nod in the rebound and hand the Magpies a deserved lead at the break.

Spurs emerged with greater urgency after half-time and went close twice within 10 minutes. Pape Matar Sarr’s long-range strike drew a sharp save from Nick Pope, while substitute Mathys Tel blazed over from a promising position after being picked out by Archie Gray.

Gray soon turned scorer himself just after the hour mark, pouncing on a loose ball inside the area to hammer home and seemingly swing the momentum in Tottenham’s favour.

Yet Spurs’ struggles at home resurfaced almost immediately. Anthony Gordon danced into the box and squared for Jacob Ramsey, who had time and space to sweep a composed finish beyond Vicario from 12 yards to restore Newcastle’s advantage.

Tottenham pushed desperately in the closing stages, but their lack of cutting edge in the final third once again proved costly. The defeat extended their winless domestic home run to six matches and deepened their slide toward the relegation battle.

For Newcastle, meanwhile, it was a timely triumph. The victory ended a three-match losing run and lifted Howe’s side back into the top half, providing a much-needed boost to their campaign.