Lennon earns last-gasp point

A last-gasp Aaron Lennon leveller earned Spurs a share of the points in an entertaining draw at Newcastle.

Lennon equalises Coloccini opener at St James' Park

A last-gasp Aaron Lennon leveller earned Spurs a share of the points in an entertaining draw at Newcastle. Leon Best hit the crossbar with a close range shot in the first period, while Rafael van der Vaart put Jermin Defoe through with a delightful flick-on just before the interval but Steve Harper saved from the England striker. Newcastle then took the lead just before the hour mark when Danny Guthrie's fantastic crossfield ball found Fabricio Coloccini to the left of goal and he chested the ball down before hitting a great effort past Carlo Cudicini to score on his 29th birthday and on his 100th appearance for the Magpies. Luka Modric hit the crossbar but Spurs were not to be denied when Defoe passed to Lennon who slotted home from just inside the box in injury time. It was heartbreak for the Magpies who had also let two points slip from their grasp last Sunday at Sunderland. Spurs would argue that they deserved at least a point after dominating for long periods, but they left it desperately late to get their reward. Newcastle went into the game once again shorn of key players Andy Carroll, Cheik Tiote and Steven Taylor and with Alan Smith ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Spurs had lost on each of their last four league visits to St James' Park, but the two clubs have enjoyed contrasting fortunes since their last encounter on Tyneside.

High tempo

The visitors started at a high tempo and lone striker Defoe whipped a third-minute shot across Steve Harper's goal after keeper Cudicini, deputising for the injured Heurelho Gomes, sparked a lightning attack with an early throw to Lennon. Defoe was to prove a thorn in the Newcastle side for much of the opening 45 minutes, although without troubling Harper unduly until the dying seconds of injury time. Spurs dominated possession, but as the Magpies got men behind the ball, they struggled to break their hosts down. Man-of-the moment Gareth Bale, who lined up at left-back with new signing Steven Pienaar taking over ahead of him, lasted just 11 minutes before limping off to be replaced by Tyneside old boy Sebastien Bassong, and that removed one potential problem for Alan Pardew's men. There were plenty of others, however, although the Newcastle boss will have been reasonably satisfied with the way those challenges were met by his players. Indeed, they started to make an impression themselves and after Shola Ameobi had failed to hit the target with two half-chances, they almost took the lead with 28 minutes gone. Jose Enrique, who was largely occupied by Lennon, got forward well to send an inviting cross to the far post, where Best slid in to divert the ball on to the crossbar. Spurs finished the half with a flurry, and almost went in front in injury time when they put together their best move of the half. Van der Vaart flicked Pienaar's pass into the path of Defoe, who seemed certain to score before Harper spread himself to make a vital block.

Determined mood

Newcastle returned in determined mood with Best proving a handful in the opening minutes of the second half, heading wide from a Jonas Gutierrez cross and seeing a shot blocked as he caused problems on the edge of the box. But as the home side pushed men forward, the visitors started to exploit the space they left behind, although Pienaar in particular was unable to make the most of several promising openings. However, it was the home side who took the lead in stunning fashion with 59 minutes gone when Coloccini controlled Guthrie's cross on his chest before smashing a shot past Cudicini. Tottenham would have been level within six minutes had it not been for another crucial intervention by Harper, who turned Lennon's well-struck shot around the post with the visitors responding. Harry Redknapp sent on striker Peter Crouch for midfielder Jermaine Jenas with 19 minutes remaining, but Newcastle could have been 2-0 up within seconds when Joey Barton split the Spurs defence and substitute Peter Lovenkrands saw his first-time shot blocked by Cudicini. Harper had his crossbar to thank for denying Modric a 76th-minute equaliser with a fine right-foot drive before substitute Nile Ranger saw his late effort flash across the face of goal. The miss proved costly in injury time when Defoe fed Lennon, who cut inside and blasted a right-foot shot past Harper to snatch a point.

Newcastle United	Team Statistics	Tottenham Hotspur
1	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	0
4	Shots on Target	5
8	Shots off Target	6
3	Blocked Shots	3
1	Corners	4
12	Fouls	7
1	Offsides	0
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
72.3	Passing Success	85.5
18	Tackles	13
61.1	Tackles Success	61.5
36.1	Possession	63.9
49.9	Territorial Advantage	50.1