After receiving his fifth yellow card of the Premier League season in Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-1 loss against Arsenal in the North London Derby, Cristian Romero’s leadership was a big miss in their following fixture, a home match against Fulham.
A disastrous first six minutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium saw Spurs two down and seemingly without any fight in them, with Thomas Frank’s side boasting one of the worst home records in the Premier League this season, with only lowly Wolverhampton Wanderers having a worse run of form on their home turf.
However, with their captain back for the trip to St James’ Park for the Newcastle vs Tottenham fixture, they had an away record to maintain and something Spurs did emphatically.
Newcastle vs Tottenham Draw: Captain Romero Writing Headlines With A Brace And An Overhead Kick
Compared to their home record, Tottenham’s away record is the joint-best in the league at the time of writing, with Chelsea set to face Leeds United at Elland Road in the latest round of Premier League fixtures.
With one defeat in seven away league fixtures, the return of Cristian Romero is something Thomas Frank needed, with the Argentine defender always putting his body on the line, but his defensive capabilities weren’t at the forefront in the Newcastle vs Tottenham fixture; instead, his attacking input shone the brightest when his team needed him the most.
Newcastle United’s captain, Bruno Guimarães, was the first to strike a blow, but it didn’t take Romero long to respond.
Mohammed Kudus’ fantastic curling cross found the head of the Argentine defender, who nodded the ball into the bottom corner of Aaron Ramsdale’s goal.
However, with Anthony Gordon restoring Newcastle’s lead from the penalty spot with five minutes to go, Spurs’ fantastic away record was once again in jeopardy.
In the dying embers, Tottenham won a corner which was delivered in by substitute Mathys Tel.
Ramsdale punched the ball clear before any of the Spurs players were able to connect with it, but what happened after was something extraordinary.
The Argentine defender, still on the floor after Ramsdale punched the ball clear, saw the ball heading out of the box, but in an instant, Romero saw his chance and connected with an overhead kick, which wrong-footed all of the Newcastle players, who were standing like statues, as the ball nestled into the bottom corner.
The Romero brace not only helped Spurs keep their good run of form going on the road but also saw them escape from recording three successive defeats in the Premier League.
Speaking to the press after the Newcastle vs Tottenham match, Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank underlined the leadership qualities of his captain and his importance:
“Yeah, of course. I think we can set everything nice tactically up and good principles and all that and try to do it, and that’s the foundation and hopefully we can make a great team – but you know sometimes it’s decisive actions from key players and Cuti definitely did that today.”
Spurs Defensive Duo Notching Premier League Braces
As a defensive partnership, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have combined for three Premier League clean sheets this season.
On the face of it, the stat doesn’t look great, but the defensive duo have only played nine times as a centre-back pairing and have also done their fair share all over the pitch, playing in a back three and in a back four.
With a third of their games that they have played with each other ending with a clean sheet, they are two of only four defenders who have notched braces in the Premier League this season, with Jurrien Timber and Malick Thiaw being the other two.
When Romero and Van de Ven scored their braces, the other one was not playing, and they were wearing the captain’s armband, signifying the importance of a strong defender and the competition between them to push each other when they aren’t playing alongside each other.
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Overhead Kick Becoming a Tottenham Hotspur Trademark?
Another South American was in the headlines at the start of the season with a potential Goal of the Season contender as Richarlison thundered a fantastic overhead kick against Burnley in the opening game of the Premier League season.
The Brazilian, assisted by the ever-skilful Kudus, thumped his past Marin Dubravka in the Burnley goal to notch his brace in what was a routine 3-0 win for Tottenham Hotspur.
With a Romero overhead kick now in the books, has the South American flair revolution taken over?
The answer, in short, is probably not, but the quick thinking of the South American players has earned Tottenham Hotspur some valuable points as their lightning start to the season has seen them somewhat stutter in recent weeks, with only two points from their last five games.
If Spurs are to climb back up the table, they will need a lot more quick thinking, their defensive partnership of Romero and Van de Ven to be intact, and their attacking players making the same impact that their defenders are making in the opposition box.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Visionhaus
Recording Date: 02.12.2025
