Christian Atsu plays full throttle as Newcastle United start season with home loss

Christian Atsu played full throttle for Newcastle United as they were defeated 2-0 by Tottenham Hotspurs in their English Premier League opener at the St. James Park on Sunday afternoon.

Newcastle deployed a 4-3-3 formation with Atsu, Dwight Gayle and Ayoze Perez as their front three but they failed to pose any threat to Tottenham, who finished second to Chelsea last season.

The Magpies were, however in the game until midfielder Jonjo Shelvey his marching orders for unsportsmanlike behaviour.

From there on, the visitors took charge and were put ahead on the 66th minute through Dele Ali after he connected to a Christian Eriksen's cross.

Christian Eriksen, who provided the assist for the first goal, tees up Ben Davies inside the box and he rolls the ball into the bottom right corner and past Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot to seal the win for Tottenham.

Newcastle will face fellow newcomers Huddersfield Town in their second game of the season at the John Smith's Stadium next Sunday.