Spurs hopes run up against brick wall

For the second week running, Sunderland ruffled the feathers of one of the Premier League’s big movers and shakers, but for their supporters, it wasn’t all good news.

In confirming their new-found identity as high-profile party-poopers by doing their bit to stifle Tottenham’s top-three ambitions, they did Newcastle a significant favour when it comes to the Champions League hopes of their bitter rivals. Stadium of Light regulars didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

They earned a merited share of the spoils against a Spurs side who have forgotten how to win on the road by way of not so much Ha’way the lads, as away the lads. It’s more than three months since Tottenham won anywhere other than White Hart Lane, but for long spells they were cast as unwitting hosts.