St James’ Park has become a venue that Tottenham Hotspur will now dread attending, with last year’s 6-1 defeat being followed by a 4-0 loss this weekend to Newcastle United.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were completely off the pace from minute one, with each away player just an actor in the Anthony Gordon show.
In truth, it was an afternoon to completely forget for the Lilywhites, with defensive mistakes and the blunt attack combining to create an embarrassing outcome.
A handful of Spurs players have been given plenty of criticism for their performances, including Pedro Porro, but there was one individual who was just as bad.
Pedro Porro’s performance against Newcastle
The Spanish right-back has been a reliable performer this season for the Australian, showing defensive security and taking on attacking responsibility, as shown by his seven league assists.
However, his performance against the Magpies was one to forget, with The Evening Standard’s Dom Smith handing him a 4/10 rating for his struggles.
The former Sporting star unfortunately played a huge role in Newcastle’s second goal, with an under-hit back pass playing Gordon through on goal, and he was often out of position defensively.
To top off his performance, Porro was substituted just after the break with a hamstring injury, but it’s currently unknown quite how long he’ll be out for.
Bentancur struggled yet again against Newcastle
Rodrigo Bentancur has had to wait patiently for minutes this season, with the midfield duo of Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma often being the first-choice pairing for Postecoglou.
The former Juventus ace’s terrible injury history will not have helped his chances of securing himself a spot in the side, with the midfielder missing 49 games over the last two seasons.
Therefore, the Uruguayan has only started nine Premier League games this campaign, which means that it was important for him to impress against Eddie Howe’s side on Saturday.
However, that unfortunately wasn’t the case, with The Evening Standard also rating Bentancur a 4/10 for his performance, and his statistics certainly suggest he found it difficult to perform, ultimately leaving the field of play with fewer touches than goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicaro (42 vs 51).
Bentancur vs Newcastle | |
|---|---|
Stats | Bentancur |
Pass accuracy | 83% |
Passes completed | 25 |
Possession lost | 7 |
Duels won | 5/13 |
Dribbled past | 3 |
Via Sofascore | |
From the first minute to the last, Tottenham dominated the tie from a possession perspective, which in theory should have made Bentancur’s afternoon much easier, particularly when on the ball.
But that wasn’t the case, as the number 30 was rather complacent throughout, having a pass accuracy of 83% and losing the ball seven times.
Furthermore, Bentancur also struggled with the intensity of the Newcastle attack and midfield, losing eight duels and being dribbled past on three occasions.
The fact that he was subbed off just before the hour mark highlighted just how little impact the 26-year-old had on his side, and after that performance, it’s difficult to see him keeping his place in the starting side over the next few weeks.
In truth, Bentancur is still clearly rusty after dealing with his numerous injury setbacks, and his second-half performance against Nottingham Forest also underlined that yesterday’s showing wasn’t a one-off, as he lost six duels and had a pass accuracy of 84%.
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