Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has received an adoring welcome home to Melbourne but suffered a loss to Garang Kuol’s Newcastle United on penalties in a friendly at the MCG.
James Maddison’s goal in the 31st minute, after a sustained period of dominance from Spurs, broke the deadlock before Alex Isak responded in the 45th.
Australian young gun Garang Kuol, 19, made his Newcastle debut in the 71st minute and with the scores locked at 1-1 at full-time, the game went straight to penalties.
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In front of a bumper crowd of 78,419 fans, Kuol took Newcastle’s fourth penalty and converted, with Eddie Howe’s charges winning the shootout 5-4.
While on paper this was a friendly between two Premier League clubs, it also delivered a warm welcome home for Postecoglou, one of Melbourne’s favourite sons.
A highlights package of Postecoglou’s playing and coaching journey played on the MCG big screen, to the delight of the home fans.
Perhaps the only person in the MCG to upstage Postecoglou was South Korean superstar captain Son Heung-min.
The star forward received a raucous applause when named and there were squeals of delight whenever he touched the ball during his hour on the park.
Just three minutes into the game, Son had a shot blocked and appeals for handball off Emil Krafth fell on deaf ears.
In the 25th minute, Son contentiously didn’t receive a penalty after he was flattened when he attempted to beat Kieran Trippier.
Spurs took the lead via a howler from Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope, whose attempted clearance picked out Maddison.
The playmaker danced around Newcastle’s defence and finished with aplomb.
Newcastle appealed Maddison had controlled the ball with his hand, but referee Alireza Faghani awarded the goal.
Trippier was withdrawn for Jacob Murphy after just 37 minutes.
Son should have had an assist when he curled a wonderful ball around the Newcastle defence in the 40th minute but Brennan Johnson shot straight at Pope.
Newcastle equalised on the counter on the stroke of half-time.
Murphy’s cross forced Brandon Austin to clear the ball away but the Tottenham goalkeeper parried it straight to Isak, who tapped home.
Fringe Socceroo Kuol, who has had tough loan stints at Scottish club Heart of Midlothian and Dutch club Volendam since joining Newcastle last January, entered the fray with 20 minutes to go.
He played as a central striker but saw little of the ball during regular time, before taking his moment in the shootout.
The post-season friendly was Spurs’s last game before their break while Newcastle will back up against the A-League Men All Stars at Marvel Stadium on Friday evening.