Pitch bust-up the spur as Butt bags precious points for Magpies

NEWCASTLE boss Glenn Roeder admitted his side were motivated to beat Tottenham yesterday by a half-time bust-up between Pascal Chimbonda and matchwinner Nicky Butt.

The Newcastle midfielder appeared to be slapped in the face by the Spurs full-back, and the former England midfielder responded with a push in the chest as the row continued in the tunnel at White Hart Lane.

The Magpies had been angered after Dimitar Berbatov had tried to block the kicks of goalkeeper Shay Given, who produced a host of stunning saves. The visitors were fired up after the confrontation, meaning Roeder was barely required to give an interval team-talk.

He said: “They’d already made their mind up that what had happened would pull them together tighter and that we’d come out with the result. I had to make a few points tactically but, in terms of sending them out motivated, that was done for us by what happened at half-time.

“The temperature was raised, that’s all I’d say. Our players don’t want to make anything of it but certainly the incident galvanised the players to go out and play and fight like they did in the second half.”

Jermain Defoe opened the scoring in a thrilling clash, finishing from close range as Spurs piled on early pressure.

Paul Huntington scored his first goal for Newcastle two minutes later to level the scores before the half-time melee, which saw both Butt and Chimbonda booked.

Berbatov restored the lead in the 54th minute but Obafemi Martins inspired a stunning comeback, finding the top corner with 19 minutes left.

He then set up the winner by threading the ball through to Butt, who had been bedridden for most of the week with flu and had dropped nine pounds in weight, according to his manager.

“Only someone of Nicky Butt’s character would have started the game,” Roeder added.

The Magpies boss again had to field his younger players following injuries to his squad, with captain Scott Parker picking up a groin injury and Emre a calf complaint.

“The boys on the bench were not well known, apart from Steve Harper who was basically child-minding for an hour and a half,” said Roeder. The manner in which we did it, considering the adversity we’ve had, was thoroughly deserved and everyone played their part.”

Spurs boss Martin Jol felt his side did not deserve to lose after the chances they created.

“We didn’t play badly and their staff told us they couldn’t believe their luck they had won,” the Dutchman said.

“You have to give them credit because, if you score three goals at White Hart Lane, normally you win games. In the first 20 minutes, we outplayed them and we had chances.

“All credit to them, but it wasn’t deserved. I feel we possibly played out best game this year. I can’t fault them. In the Kevin Keegan era, we would have won 6-3. We are not as strong as last year collectively, I can’t recall conceding three goals.

“We had at least 20 attempts on goal, so it was about Shay Given as well. It was a combination of things — being unlucky and Shay Given. The players can talk about it for hours but we’ve another game on Wednesday.”

Opta Fact: Spurs have conceded more first half goals than any other side — 18.

Opta Fact: This was the first time this season Newcastle had gained any points after conceding the opening goal.

TOTTENHAM: Robinson, Chimbonda, Lee, Dawson, Davenport (Ghaly 88), Lennon, Huddlestone, Tainio (Zokora 79), Malbranque (Keane 75), Defoe, Berbatov.

NEWCASTLE: Given, Ramage, Taylor, Huntington, Pattison, Solano, Butt, Milner, Dyer, Martins, Sibierski.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent).