James Maddison celebrated his place in England's Euro 24 squad with a goal, but it was wasted as Newcastle beat Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in a post-season friendly in front of 78,000 fans in Melbourne on Wednesday. Ta.
Playing just 48 hours after making the long journey from London at the end of the Premier League season, both teams still put on an entertaining show at the cavernous Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Spurs took the lead in the 32nd minute with a goal from Maddison, before Alexander Isak scored to equalize just before half-time.
Due to heavy substitutions after the interval, neither team was able to produce a winner and the match ended 1-1 and went to penalties, which seemed to come as a surprise to the players.
Spurs winger Brian Gill's opening shot was saved and Newcastle won 5-4 with no mistakes.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said: “It was a decent game. Everything was good in the first half, but in the second half it felt like a friendly.” “But I think there was enough there for the punters to get something out of the game.”
It was a solid effort on a cold night, considering both teams boarded the plane just hours after the season ended on Sunday and effectively lost on Monday after a 24-hour journey.
Eddie Howe started all eight games for the Newcastle team that beat Brentford on Sunday and also started all eight games for Spurs' side that beat Sheffield United.
Among them were Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier and Maddison, who came through unscathed to the relief of England manager Gareth Southgate.
Both players were named in England's provisional Euro 2024 squad this week. Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon also did not travel to Australia as he is recovering from a calf injury.
Spurs dominated the ball early on but had few chances and their first real chance came in the 21st minute when Maddison fired a long-range shot, but it went wide of the goal.
But Postecoglou's side continued to press and a sloppy clearance from Newcastle keeper Nick Pope gave them the lead, with Maddison dribbling past both men and curling the ball into the top corner.
A few minutes later Pope made up for it with a close-range save to keep Newcastle alive, and just before half-time Swedish striker Isaac converted Jacob Murphy's low cross from close range to equalize.
A series of changes in the second half saw the standard drop as both teams searched for a winner, with Spurs seeing most of the ball without being able to land a decisive blow.
Tottenham's season is over, but Newcastle will play another friendly against the A-League All Stars team in Melbourne on Friday.
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