EPL 2017/18, Newcastle 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur: 5 Talking Points

#2 Shelvey’s questionable temperament costs Newcastle

Newcastle cannot afford to give their opponents any sort of advantage at this level

There is no doubt that Shelvey’s ridiculous decision to tread on Alli’s foot shortly after the interval cost his team on Sunday afternoon. Players can be forgiven for some red cards – a last-man foul, for instance – but this was a completely avoidable dismissal that undid all of Newcastle’s excellent work in the opening 45 minutes.

Shelvey, who began the day as the hosts’ captain, has a liking for this sort of thing; last season, the former Liverpool midfielder was banned for five matches after he allegedly racially abused Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Romain Saiss, while he was also sent off in a defeat by Nottingham Forest and booked on 10 separate occasions.

Newcastle cannot afford to give their opponents any sort of advantage at this level, as Spurs duly demonstrated in the remaining 42 minutes.