Newcastle boss Steve McClaren says shock win at Tottenham 'was for the players'

Newcastle remarkably ended Tottenham's 15 game unbeaten streak with a late 2-1 win

 

SUPERSUBS Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez torpedoed Tottenham's 15-game unbeaten run after a player-led battle roar at half-time lifted Newcastle out of the bottom three.

Tottenham appeared to be cruising after Eric Dier's opener just before the break, but within minutes of making their second change, Mitrovic pulled the scores level before Perez snatched a 2-1 win in the third minute of stoppage time.

And afterwards manager Steve McClaren insisted the club's first comeback win of the year was down to the players at half-time and not him.

"It was a win for the players, this," he said. "Half-time was a big test for this team but the players were terrific.

 

"We've come in at half-time before and the dressing room has been quiet and disappointed. But today it was so vocal, and there was such a determination among the players not to lead down the normal path of losing the game.

"There was so much going on, Robbie Elliot, Fabricio Coloccini, to be fair, all of them. We couldn't shut them up!

"And they took it on board - that's the pleasing thing for me. The response in the second half was fantastic. We grew, got stronger and deserved the win.

"We've not won back-to-back games for over a year, not had a comeback win for about a year. So to do it was immense and you can talk and talk but the players did it on the field. Fantastic performance."