NEWCASTLE, England (AP) - Tottenham capitalized on Jonjo Shelvey’s senseless sending-off to beat Newcastle 2-0 in the Premier League on Sunday, with Dele Alli and Ben Davies scoring in the final half-hour.
Shelvey trod on the right foot of Alli, who was sitting on the ground, as he tried to resume play after a free kick had been awarded. The 48th-minute incident took place right in front of the referee, at a time when Newcastle was looking comfortable against one of the favorites for the title.
Tottenham immediately took charge of the match and Alli slid in at the far post to steer in a cross from Christian Eriksen in the 61st minute.
Nine minutes later, Eriksen ran into the area but was beaten to the ball by Davies, who tucked a close-range finish under goalkeeper Rob Elliot. Harry Kane struck the post in injury time as Newcastle fell apart late on.
Spurs started off slowly but looked assured and dangerous going forward after Shelvey’s game-turning dismissal. Alli opened his scoring account in his first game of the season, building on his career-high 18 goals from last season.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has come under pressure to add some new players to a squad that finished second to Chelsea last season and has lost right back Kyle Walker, who moved to Manchester City.
His options have improved, though, with young right back Kyle Walker-Peters impressing on his first league start and South Korea forward Heung-min Son making a return to action after sustaining a broken arm in preseason.
Newcastle’s cause wasn’t helped by losing defenders Paul Dummett and Florian Lejeune - the 200th French player to feature in a Premier League game - to injury in the first half.
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