Premier League: Newcastle v Tottenham full-time report

Demba Ba opens the scoring

Newcastle 2 Tottenham 1

André Villas-Boas suffered a 2-1 defeat away at Newcastle in his first competitive match in charge of Tottenham.

Spurs hit the woodwork twice during a relatively uneventful first-half, but the match came to life after the break, with Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa scoring either side of a Jermain Defoe strike to secure maximum points for the Magpies.

Ba netted his first goal for six months with a sublime curling effort, but Defoe got the visitors back on level terms with a typically instinctive finish.

However, the match was won by Ben Arfa, who was fouled inside the Tottenham penalty area by Aaron Lennon before dusting himself down to convert the subsequent spot-kick.

The temperature inside the Sports Direct Arena was still very warm despite the late-afternoon kick-off time, but the match still featured plenty of tenacity.

During the early stages, in particular, a host of full-blooded challenges led to referee Martin Atkinson brandishing the yellow card to several players.

Despite the tasty challenges, though, there was a distinct lack of goalmouth action until midway through the first half.

Ben Arfa, who was Newcastle's liveliest player during the first half, embarked on one of his trademark mazy runs before laying the ball off to Ba, whose effort rolled agonisingly wide after taking a deflection off Senegalese teammate Papiss Demba Cissé.

Then it was Tottenham's turn to go close, with Defoe and Gareth Bale both hitting the woodwork in quick succession.

Defoe netted the winning goal for England against Italy in mid-week and went close to making it two goals in four days after skipping past Newcastle's Steven Taylor before hitting the base of the post.

Bale then struck the crossbar with a header following excellent wing play by Lennon, who clipped a cross to the back post where the Wales international was lurking.

Just four points separated the two clubs in the Premier League table at the end of last season and, following a first-half which simmered rather than boiled, it was no real surprise that the deadlock remained unbroken at the interval.

However, a moment of magic by Ba early in the second half put the Magpies ahead, to the delight of the home crowd.

Kyle Walker's header went up rather than out, straight to the feet of Ba, who took a touch before curling a delightful shot into the net past the outstretched Brad Friedel.

That was the 27-year-old's first goal since February, but the opening goal was followed moments later by his manager being sent to the stands.

Alan Pardew pushed the assistant referee after disagreeing with a decision, leading to fourth official Lee Mason sending the Magpies boss to the stands.

Newcastle's assistant manager John Carver took Pardew's place on the touchline, while the boss struggled to relay messages down to the dugout because of a faulty walkie-talkie.

Tottenham sensed their chance to capitalise, and Tim Krul was forced to make a save when Benoit Assou-Ekotto unleashed from range.

However, the Dutch goalkeeper was beaten with 15 minutes remaining, as Defoe netted from close range at the second attempt after his initial header was saved.

Villas-Boas punched the air in delight from his technical area, but the Portuguese's celebrations were cut short by Ben Arfa, who won and then converted the penalty to restore Newcastle's one-goal advantage.

Pardew, from the director's box, celebrated just as emphatically as Villas-Boas had done moments earlier.

And it was the Newcastle boss who had the last laugh – even though the Football Association are likely to take a dim view of his push on the match official.

Rob Swan - follow me on Twitter

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