With injury and illness ravaging an out-of-form Spurs side, a resurgent Newcastle would have been the most unwelcome of guests at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Despite the doom and gloom engulfing Postecoglou’s side, it was the hosts who struck first.
Pedro Porro drifted a delightful cross into the path of Dominic Solanke, who converted a brilliant diving header past Martin Dúbravka in the fourth minute.
That joy was short-lived though, as Anthony Gordon fired a clinical angled strike past Brandon Austin, who was picking the ball out of the net six minutes into his PL debut.
It looked like Spurs may have been given a reprieve when the ball appeared to strike Joelinton’s arm in the build-up, but the goal stood.
The Magpies exploited Tottenham’s vulnerability down that left-hand side again, but this time Austin made a fine save to keep out another angled attempt from Gordon.
Eddie Howe’s side completed the first-half turnaround courtesy of man-of-the-moment Alexander Isak, who scored in his seventh consecutive PL game by guiding home Jacob Murphy’s deflected cross.
Postecoglou’s side began the second half brightly and were inches away from restoring parity when Brennan Johnson’s follow-up strike cannoned off the post after Dúbravka made a fine one-handed save to deny Pape Matar Sarr.
James Maddison then came mightily close to scoring a second Spurs goal, but he was unfortunate to see his superb curling effort sail just past the far post.
The North Londoners continued to ramp up the pressure in the closing stages, with Johnson and Sergio Reguilón both taking turns to flash efforts across the face of goal.
Ultimately, this resurgence yielded no reward and leaves Spurs languishing in 11th with only one victory from their last eight league games.
Meanwhile, Newcastle’s hopes of a return to the UEFA Champions League next season were enhanced further with a fifth straight top-flight win, and sit behind Chelsea on goal difference only ahead of the Blues’ match away at Crystal Palace.