Tottenham 1 Newcastle 0: Harry Kane goal sends Spurs back into the Champions League

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After a nervy past month, Tottenham booked their place in the Champions League for a third straight year as they took advantage of Chelsea’s draw with Huddersfield with a 1-0 win over Newcastle at Wembley.

For all the worry at the start of the season as to how a season at the national stadium would impact on a side who went undefeated at home the campaign before, Spurs have been fantastic. However, having been an confident all-conquering side in the earlier months of 2018, the first half on Wednesday night was a call back to those nervy games under the arch against Swansea, Barnsley and West Brom.

After a bright start, the hosts fizzled out and began to show signs of panic, with Jonjo Shelvey clipping the post from a freekick and Ayoze Perez evading Davinson Sanchez with easy, with the Colombian lucky no one else in blue was thinking as quickly as the forward.

The sloppy first half was epitomised when a long Hugo Lloris kick put Kane through one-on-one with Martin Dubravka, only for the England striker to completely mishit his volley into the arms of the Slovakian shot-stopper, something needed to spark a change at half time.

News from Stamford Bridge will have buoyed the home changing room during the break, Chelsea – who kicked off 15 minutes earlier than here at Wembley – had gone one down to Huddersfield, opening the door for Spurs to end the top four race for good.

Chelsea quickly levelled things in west London, however, that here at Wembley moments later. With Spurs looking much more like their old selves, Dele Alli strode forward towards the Newcastle box, before finding Kane who – in turn – rolled the ball over to Heung-min Son and curled the ball home with a first time finish as the South Korean returned it to his feet.

If anyone was to rain on Tottenham’s parade it would be Chelsea loanne Kenedy, and the Brazilian had his chance too. After a shaky period, in which Lloris was called into action in order to clear the danger following a mishit from Perez, the Brazilian found some space on the edge of the box and fizzed an effort past the foot of the post, passing up a chance to keep his parent club’s top four hopes alive.

Having withstood the best Newcastle had to offer, Spurs went in search of a second as Alli called Dubravka into action once more, diving low to save a well hit effort from 12-yards.

It wasn’t just the ‘keeper holding the hosts at bay, as Pochettino’s side grew in confidence, putting together increasingly slick moves, Jamaal Lacscelles showed why he remains so popular with the Toon Army, launching himself across Son to deny a shot at goal.

Newcastle weren’t down yet, with just shy of 20 minutes to go Rafa Benitez introduced Jacob Murphy, and the former Norwich man had an instant impact. His blistering pace saw the speedy Sanchez left behind before a powerful effort left Lloris helpless but flew just wide of the Frenchman’s goal.

Wembley heard its loudest cheers and chants of the night as news that Chelsea had only taken a point from Huddersfield filtered through. As Spurs stood minutes from a third successive season of Champions League football, Pochettino was down on his haunches on the edge of the technical area, watching on as his side slowly battled towards the finishing line.

If the Chelsea result got the biggest cheer, those for the introduction of Toby Alderweireld sent a clear message to Daniel Levy in the stands that the fans want to see the Belgian at their new stadium come August.

With Champions League football secured, Pochettino can look back on a season without a permanent home as a successful one, however, come their arrival in the new-look White Hart Lane, the nervy, tetchy performances must be wiped out if they are to take the next step towards silverware.

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