Tottenham fail to score for the second straight match as Elanga and Wissa give Newcastle a 2-0 win

A week after losing 3-0 at Brentford with a back four of strangers, Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium bow was supposed to be the reset. Instead Newcastle won 2-0, and Spurs have now lost their first two league games of the season without scoring a single goal between them.

Anthony Elanga broke the deadlock on 62 minutes, turning his marker in the area and finishing well — his second goal of the season after also scoring in Newcastle's opening-day draw at home to Liverpool. Ten minutes later Yoane Wissa, back to goal, hooked in a Nick Woltemade knockdown for his first of the campaign.

Booed off, again

Tottenham had 53% of possession and 17 shots to Newcastle's far more efficient afternoon, but managed only 1.04 expected goals against Newcastle's 0.75 — and Newcastle's only two shots on target were the two that went in. Winger Savio missed out with muscle fatigue, and the home crowd made its frustration known at full time after another summer of heavy spending — eight new arrivals, reportedly around £320m — has yet to produce a goal.

A result that has only aged worse for Spurs

Three matchweeks on, that afternoon at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looks less like an aberration and more like the start of a slump. Spurs followed it with back-to-back goalless draws, away at Nottingham Forest and at home to Everton, then lost 3-2 to Aston Villa on 19 September. Five games into the season they are still without a win — bottom of the Premier League on two points, with only Coventry City's one goal scored sitting below their own tally of two.

Newcastle's own form has been streakier than that 2-0 scoreline suggested at the time. They drew 2-2 at home to Bournemouth the following week, were beaten 4-1 away at Leeds United, then recovered to beat Hull City 2-1 at St James' Park on 19 September. That run leaves Matthias Jaissle's side 9th with 8 points from five games, a goal difference of exactly zero — nine scored, nine conceded — sandwiched between Hull and Chelsea in a congested mid-table. The two sides have not faced each other again since this match, so the reverse fixture at St James' Park is still to come this season.

Match facts

• 62' — Anthony Elanga (Newcastle)
• 72' — Yoane Wissa (Newcastle), assisted by Nick Woltemade
• 78' — Sven Botman (Newcastle) — yellow card, tactical foul

Where it leaves them now

At the time, this result put Newcastle 3rd and in the Champions League zone while Tottenham sat bottom without a point. Five matchweeks in, Newcastle have settled into mid-table 9th, and Tottenham remain bottom — now on the same two points as Fulham but behind them on goal difference, and inside the relegation zone rather than just facing an early wobble. De Zerbi's side have scored twice all season; picking that number up is the more pressing problem than any single result.