Rafael Benitez was left disappointed after his Newcastle side were denied a point at Wembley thanks to a rare mistake from Martin Dubravka.
It had been an intriguing game at the National Stadium, with both sides doing enough to grab all three points. However, the game was decided by a solitary second-half strike from Son Heung-Min, who latched onto a knockdown from Fernando Llorente, took one touch to set himself before firing towards goal.
The South Korean’s effort was straight towards Slovakian ‘keeper Dubravka, who seemed to take his eye off the ball, before allowing it to squirm under his body and into the back of the Magpies goal.
Having seen his side beat Man City in midweek, Newcastle boss Benitez cut a frustrated figure at seeing his sides excellent defensive work go to waste.
7 – Newcastle have lost their last seven visits to Wembley in all competitions since winning the 1955 FA Cup final against Man City – the worst ever losing run by a team at the stadium. Punishment. #TOTNEW pic.twitter.com/dQNjcYwfsn
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 2, 2019
“I think we did well in the first half and we had chances in the beginning of the second half. They were pushing hard, we were defending well and this goal we could’ve avoided,” Benitez told Sky Sports.
“We have to give credit to Son because the shot was a good one and we hit the post in the second half, that was a big chance for us. You have to give credit to Tottenham because they have injuries but still some of the best players in the national team. It was not easy for us.”
