Tottenham began the evening by parading £300m of new signings before kick-off, a conga line of talent that included three title winners, like the world’s most luxurious eight-a-side team inside the Premier League’s most luxurious stadium. Yet they finished this game much like they finished last season, looking like a team who might have just enough to beat the drop if they really dig in.

This was a slightly improved display on the disastrous 3-0 defeat at Brentford last weekend. Tottenham enjoyed spells of controlled possession and created better chances than Newcastle, certainly for the first hour. They opened up promising situations for wingers Mathys Tel and Pedro Porro. But, troublingly, considering Roberto De Zerbi handed a debut to new striker Omar Marmoush here, Spurs were tame and toothless in attack, lacking any punch, like a boxer with a giant foam hand.

Newcastle have undertaken a little summer refurbishment too, and Matthias Jaissle gave his own Manchester City signing, Nico Gonzalez, a debut anchoring midfield. Evidently, Pep Guardiola’s influence on the Premier League will last long after his departure, and at the end of this frenetic match, it was Gonzalez, not Marmoush, who had played the decisive role.

On the hour, the Spaniard played a glorious diagonal pass which found the run of his right-back Amar Dedic, another impressive new recruit, and his header fed Anthony Elanga who swivelled and fired home Newcastle’s first goal. A few minutes later Yoane Wissa cleverly flicked in their second at a corner, and Newcastle held on to win 2-0.

If Spurs produced a timid home performance then Newcastle’s was the perfect away display, largely containing their opponents and proving clinical in the box. It was a tactical victory and on the touchline, the two managers stalked their technical areas, Jaissle like some magnificent Grand National horse, De Zerbi more like a chipmunk going through a crisis.

This was always going to be a chaotic affair. The day’s rain made a slick surface. Both teams deployed direct wingers, quick strikers and technical midfielders. There were no targets to aim at, so unlocking defences had to be done on the floor, often at breakneck speed, relying on a precise first-time ball which rarely came.

On first look, this wasn’t necessarily a game to suit a couple of pupils from the school of Guardiola. Gonzalez’s first act of note in a Newcastle shirt was to receive a yellow card for clattering through Archie Gray. Omar Marmoush’s first shot for Spurs was a free volley at the back post from Andy Robertson’s deep corner, which he scuffed well wide.

But Gonzalez soon got his foot on the ball, dropping in between his centre-backs to start attacks and he began linking the play. Squint a little and it could have been Rodri pulling Newcastle’s strings. Marmoush became more involved for Spurs, too, and his pace on the break caused problems. He had a strong shout for a penalty under Sven Botman’s challenge at the start of the second half, but Peter Bankes turned down Spurs’ appeals.

But it was Gonzalez who would prove influential. No doubt it had been a frustrating 18 months after he left Porto to join City, in a £50m transfer in the final hour of last year’s January transfer window. Although, what else did he expect? Gonzalez played a fringe role in a team built around Rodri. He was not involved at the World Cup and has still not earned an international cap for Spain.

But the move north may prove to be the making of a player who looked at home here in Newcastle’s midfield, alongside Lewis Miley and Joe Willock. Gonzalez has that uncanny ability to look like he’s landed the easiest job in the world, always without an opponent within 10 yards, with time to look up and pick his pass. But just as elite goalscorers are not necessarily the best finishers but rather those who find the best positions over and over again, so Gonzalez’s secret is not his passing range but his ability to sniff out space, to make time, to find a patch of calm in the vortex.

So when he received a harmless pass in his own half midway through the second period, Gonzalez had a couple of seconds to play with and he used them. He took a touch out of his feet, made fleeting eye contact with Dedic, and pierced a high diagonal over Tottenham’s left-back Robertson to spark the move for Newcastle’s opener.

The natural concern about Newcastle this summer was not just Eddie Howe’s departure, but that their midfield was shallow and shorn of quality. Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali left a gaping hole to fill, and the latter energetic and sharp here without ever producing a killer moment. Tonali was booed throughout by the travelling Newcastle supporters, who showed impressive levels of concentration and commitment to the bit by jeering every minor involvement, up to and including the Italian’s second-half substitution.

But on this evidence, perhaps Newcastle are in a better place than we thought. They might have the best full-backs in the league – both Dedic and Lewis Hall were excellent. They have options in attack – Nick Woltemade came off the bench to set up Wissa’s goal – and terrifying pace on the wings. Their new goalkeeper, Lukas Hornicek, made a couple of important saves. And then there is Jaissle, who radiates a confident glow, answering media questions with a slight smirk like he knows something we don’t.

And perhaps the axle holding the entire wheel together will be Gonzalez. Newcastle have certainly replaced some of the composure and control lost earlier in the transfer window, and made a healthy profit in the process. They have not ripped through the transfer market like Tottenham, as the pre-match pageant showed. But Newcastle’s summer business may yet prove the most effective.

Anthony Richardson hasn’t lived up to massive expectations he entered the NFL with. The 2023 NFL Draft’s No. 4 overall pick, Richardson has started only 15 games over three seasons, losing his starting job to Daniel Jones last year while dealing with injuries throughout his career.

While Richardson has a massive 6-foot-4, 244-pound frame to go along with elite speed and arm strength, it’s the simple skills he lacks. Richardson struggles with accuracy, holding onto the ball too long and failing to diversify the velocity of his passes. He makes both his offensive line and receivers’ jobs harder as a result.

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Another knock on Richardson coming out of Florida was a lack of experience, and he certainly hasn’t added much at the NFL level. With Jones entrenched as the Colts‘ starter, Richardson’s pathway to playtime going forward remains blocked.

Richardson requested a trade this offseason in the hopes of getting a fresh start. In the Colts’ preseason finale against the Detroit Lions on Saturday, he proved why he may be worthy of one. Richardson completed 7 of his 10 passes for 80 yards while taking only one sack. He found Keenan Allen on this beautiful 24-yard touch pass early in the first quarter.

Roberto De Zerbi has apologised for Tottenham’s dire start to the new Premier League season but insists the club will not panic after back-to-back losses.

Spurs succumbed to another bruising defeat on Saturday as Newcastle came away from north London with a 2-0 win, with reborn stars Yoane Wissa and Anthony Elanga on the scoresheet.

It comes after the disastrous opening loss to Brentford, with Spurs now sitting rock bottom in the table despite spending £320m in the summer.

De Zerbi has stressed that after only just avoiding relegation last term, Tottenham cannot expect to flip their fortunes around in the space of one transfer window and is not dwelling on the early bad results.

“We will not panic,” he told Sky Sports. “I know very well where we are going, what the plan is and what difficult problems we could find in our way.

“I am sorry for the fans and sorry for the players for the result but we have to improve and to change two seasons like the last two is impossible in 10 days and with people in the transfer market.

“ We have to work hard on the pitch and find the connection with the players because last season before the end of the season we were in the Championship and we stayed up together.

“Now we have to keep clam and focus on improvement. We have a great squad and great players, we can’t use all the players we brought but if we work in this way and believe in ourselves I think we will change the last two seasons.

“If the rush is more important than the journey we can’t find the solutions to the last two seasons.”

With Tottenham’s terrible home record bleeding into a new season, De Zerbi told fans to “forget the result” and believed his side were the better team for much of the game.

“Disappointed for the result because until the first goal we conceded I think we played better than Newcastle,” he told BBC Sport.

“We lost ball possession in the first half because we didn’t defend in the right way, the distance between the defenders and attackers was too big.

“We can improve in the defensive phases but today was an unfair result.”

For Dungannon Swifts, the most obvious improvement has been the manner in which they have recovered from their opening day defeat.

Rodney McAree’s side began the campaign with a 3-1 home loss against Coleraine, but have responded with victories over Portadown, Bangor and Cliftonville.

That represents a significant improvement on last season when the Swifts made a really concerning start to the campaign and lost their opening five league fixtures.

Dungannon have secured a top six finish for the past two seasons and manager Rodney McAree will want to repeat the feat this term.

Midfielder Sean McAllister has already stood out, scoring three goals so far and has been heavily involved when the Swifts push into the final third.

New signings such as Kris Lowe have also impressed with former Portadown boss Niall Currie saying the Swifts side is the “strongest” it has ever been, as they aim to seal another chance at European football.

“I look at Rodney McAree’s squad now and, to me, this is the strongest Dungannon squad there has been,” Currie said on Sportsound.

“Rodney has gone out and got strength and depth. Some of the players who are not even making the squad at the minute for the Swifts are a lot of players who would certainly have started a few years ago.”

WWE legend Brock Lesnar officially retired from professional wrestling, but The Beast Incarnate’s legacy in the industry is hard to replicate. A rising star recently recalled he was nervous before taking an F5.

Earlier this year, Je’Von Evans moved to WWE’s main roster and joined Monday Night RAW under Triple H’s creative leadership. The Young OG soon crossed paths with Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, when they competed in the gimmick match.

While neither won the match, Evans experienced The Beast Incarnate’s F5 for the first time in his career. Speaking on Rosenberg Wrestling’s Cheap Heat, the 22-year-old WWE star opened up about his time in the ring with Brock Lesnar in Saudi Arabia.

Peter Rosenberg asked Evans about the F5, and The Young OG stated it wasn’t good. The 22-year-old WWE star shared a funny incident, revealing the former three-time Universal Champion’s brute strength as wrestlers were instructed not to jump when Lesnar attempted to suplex them.

“I did. It wasn’t good… Funny story, he [Brock Lesnar] comes in the ring suplexing everybody… I was confident, but at the same time, I was nervous too because I never took the F5 before. I remember somebody was talking about it before the show, like, ‘If Brock comes in the ring and he gives you a suplex, he’s going to toss you. Do not jump.’ I was just eavesdropping… I get up, and I’m like, ‘Let’s see if I can do something.’ Right when I try to swing, he snatches behind me. I’m like, ‘Oh no.’ But I’m telling you, if I would’ve jumped, I probably would’ve d*ed. Oh yeah. For sure. I was in the air,” Evans said.

Luckily, Je’Von Evans doesn’t have to take the move again, as Brock Lesnar officially retired from in-ring competition.

WWE Hall of Famer defended Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar‘s glorious career as an in-ring performer ended at SummerSlam in Minnesota when he lost a Hell in a Cell match to Oba Femi. The Beast Incarnate can finally spend quality time with his family, and the multi-time WWE World Champion has closed an important chapter of his life.

Speaking on Six Feet Under with The Undertaker, The Phenom praised Brock Lesnar’s work in the industry and defended him against those who criticized the three-time Universal Champion’s work or schedule in the company.

If you use quotes from the article, please credit Rosenberg Wrestling and provide an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.