Life in the Premier League was always going to be hard for Newcastle United. Newly promoted and unable to improve the squad as much as manager Rafael Benitez would like, an opening game against a team like Tottenham called for unity, togetherness and common sense.
So what went through the mind of Jonjo Shelvey two minutes in to the second half, only he will know.
With Tottenham’s playmaker Dele Alli prone on the St James’ Park turf and initially refusing to hand Shelvey the ball, the Newcastle captain managed to retrieve it before almost casually walking over the Tottenham player’s ankle with his studs.