Newcastle United vs Tottenham Review: 6 Things We Learned from the Match

Demba Ba hadn't scored since February for Newcastle United, but you'd never have known it the way he took his goal in the 54th minute.

Newcastle left-back Danny Simpson floated a cross into the penalty area, but Spurs defender Kyle Walker scuffed his clearance, allowing the ball to fall into the path of the lurking Ba, who collected before firing a curling effort past Brad Friedel to open the scoring.

Tottenham had every reason to feel hard-done by—they'd twice hit the post by that juncture of the match, once off the post and once off the crossbar—but the match would be prime evidence that fortune favors those who take their chances.

Last season's fifth-place finishers, one behind Spurs in the standings, Newcastle did just that, scoring through that Ba strike and a Hatem ben Arfa penalty, goals which sandwiched an opportunistic and dedicated effort from Jermain Defoe.

A trip to Tyneside to open the season is a tall order for any side—particularly with Newcastle the strongest they've been in some time—but Tottenham have plenty of positives to take away from this one.

Were it not for a couple defensive lapses—Walker's poor clearance and Aaron Lennon bundling over Ben Arfa in the box for the penalty—they could very well have walked out of Sports Direct Arena with three points.

Jermain Defoe very nearly replicated his terrific goal for England in midweek on Saturday.

Gathering possession on the left edge of the penalty area, the striker ran at the defense before unleashing a low drive that caught Tim Krul off his guard. The keeper had to have been relieved to see the post come to his rescue, though, as the ball bounced off the woodwork and out of play.

That near miss was followed minutes later by Gareth Bale heading into the crossbar. Had Tottenham had a little luck on their side, they could easily have gone 2-0 up by the half.

Considering that new manager Andre Villas-Boas still hasn't settled his roster for the season—he wants to bring last season's star loan signing Emmanuel Adebayor in on a permanent basis—Defoe's superlative showing was a sign of good things to come.

It hasn't been the easiest of times for Defoe in recent seasons, who cut a peripheral figure last season in particular, when Harry Redknapp favored a lone striker (which was usually Adebayor), or a combination with Louis Saha.

"It is frustrating but all you can do as a player is make sure you are still around, still in the squad," Defoe told The Telegraph ahead of Saturday's match.

Defoe was speaking as much about his history with the English national team, where he was perhaps most notably passed over for the 2006 World Cup in favor of unproven 17-year-old phenom Theo Walcott.

"I'm not one of those players that will sulk," Defoe continued.

"I just keep it going because if you sulk and then do get a chance, because your head has gone, you can’t really perform. I’ve always waited for my chance and when I get one, make sure I grab it with both hands. I do feel sharp."

With Tottenham standing firm over their wage package for Adebayor—a signing fee of £4 million, coupled with weekly wages hovering around £100,000 have been offered to Real Madrid—Defoe may remain Villas-Boas's main man for the time being.

Knowing him, and seeing as he'd done on Saturday, when he crashed in a goal from short range after seeing his first effort saved, he'll make the chance count.

He knows the value of hard work—seen perfectly in his second-chance approach for the equalizer.

Pace is a given for Spurs going forward—with Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon manning the flanks, opposing defenses have every right to fear the counter-attack—and when they were able to get forward against Newcastle, they looked every bit as dangerous as has been seen in recent seasons.

With a spot in next season's Champions League as the goal, Tottenham will need to be at their dynamic best should they hope to unseat their rivals for the lucrative competition.

Lennon looked brilliant in spells—he breezed past David Santon before sending in the cross that Bale would head onto the bar—and Bale was his usual dangerous self.

One of the top newcomers last season, when he'd helped lead Swansea City to an 11th place finish in league after joining on loan from Hoffenheim in January—he scored seven goals and added three assists in just 18 league games—Sigurdsson struggled to impose himself on Saturday's proceedings.

He was very good in stages—particularly at the start of the match, but faded visibly as the match wore on before Rafael van der Vaart replaced him in the 68th minute.

Sigurdsson's fitness is one of his stronger attributes—he was substituted just four times in his last 16 starts for Swansea last season—and it's likely he'll continue to get stronger as the season wears on.

There were plenty of positives—he looked dangerous from free kicks, forcing Krul into a good save on one occasion, and he showed an aptitude for linking up from an advanced position—but he did choose to go for goal himself perhaps a bit too frequently, rather than pass to teammates.

Some of that can be chalked up to unfamiliarity which is certain to be righted as the season progresses.

Ben Arfa showed little after effects from a difficult summer in which he'd drawn the ire of the French public for his displays at the European Championships, which had seen him issued a warning from the French federation and omitted from Didier Deschamps's squad to face Uruguay in a friendly this past week.

He was superb for much of the match, looking the most likely of the Newcastle players to unlock a dedicated Spurs defense.

When he finally did, it was from a penalty of his own making—after drawing Lennon and Van der Vaart on the penalty area's left periphery, Ben Arfa seized his chance to dribble at two less-than-imposing defenders, splitting the pair and forcing Lennon to bring him down.

Van der Vaart stood directly behind Ben Arfa as he lined up his penalty, and just as he was making his approach, the Dutchman signaled to keeper Brad Friedel that he believed Ben Arfa was going to go to his right (Friedel's left).

Friedel might not have picked up the tip, or perhaps he simply chose to ignore it, but he dove the wrong way and Ben Arfa put his side up for the good.

Ba's goal will have done the tall striker, one of the revelations of last season, a world of good. After scoring 16 times in first 20 appearances for the club, a run that included two hat tricks and two braces, Ba's goal tally went dry for the final months of the season.

His manager Alan Pardew, disciplined for pushing the assistant referee after he believed the ball to have gone out of touch, raved about his striker's performance.

"(Ba) has been brilliant for us when we have asked him to play on the side and he has done it again today and come up with a goal," Pardew told Soccernet.

"It was the first game of the season today and I think it just showed that sometimes it is character and spirit that can win through."

The Dutch shot stopper burst onto the scene last season when he was the driving force behind a number of positive Newcastle results.

Blessed with terrific instincts and an imposing frame, Krul once again put his talents to good use against Tottenham on Saturday.

While he had the woodwork to thank twice, he did well to deny Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Defoe goal scoring opportunities.

Good goalkeeping is an age-old prerequisite for a successful team, and Krul showed yet again on Saturday that Newcastle have one of the best in the league.

Yohan Cabaye earned widespread praise for his play last season, but few would deny that his counterpart in midfield Cheikh Tiote is every bit as integral to Newcastle's success, if not more so.

Tiote shrugged off an early injury scare against Tottenham, and continued to disrupt play with abandon while showing a canny sense for distribution.

His effect on this season will need to be prodigious, and Saturday was quite a good beginning.