Forget Kane: Spurs "animal" with 94 touches & 7 tackles was Conte's unsung hero v NUFC - opinion

Tottenham Hotspur moved into the Premier League’s top four with a resounding win over Newcastle United on Sunday evening.

It was the visitors who took a surprise early lead after centre-back Fabian Schar curled in a free-kick that goalkeeper Hugo Lloris really should’ve dealt with better.

But Spurs hit back instantly through Ben Davies, who glanced home a cross from Heung-min Son. Matt Doherty then met Harry Kane’s ball in after the break before Son notched their third.

By the hour mark, things got even better, and it was another wing-back on the scoresheet in Emerson Royal, tapping home from close range. Late substitute Steven Bergwijn finished the rout with his fourth goal in under ten days, across both international and domestic matches.

Despite not getting on the scoresheet, it was leading talisman Kane who took home the ‘Man of the Match’ award but ultimately, any of the aforementioned named could’ve taken the crown, as could Cristian Romero.

The Argentina centre-back was an absolute “animal” for the north Londoners, just as teammate Pierluigi Gollini described him as back in September, also claiming that he was “perfect” for the Premier League.

Indeed, he has been showing that all campaign but this outing was particularly impressive, even if Newcastle rarely threatened.

As per SofaScore, Romero won a whopping match-high seven tackles, which was three more than any other player on the pitch and more than his defensive peers combined.

He also won eight of his ten ground duels (80%) and one aerial duel, as well as one clearance and one block too, proving to be a big influence defensively but the £36m-rated colossus was also cool and collected on the ball, making 94% of his 82 passing attempts.

Romero was frequently