Newcastle 2-2 Tottenham: Romero’s celebration mimicking Guimaraes leads to bust-up

Tottenham defender Cristian Romero speaking to Sky Sports: “The first goal was very important. In the last three or four games the team weren’t good enough. It has been a difficult time but especially in this game I love the mentality.”

On his second goal: “Every day with Leo Messi in the national team I watch him and it is a beautiful goal.”

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe speaking to Sky Sports: “It wasn’t us at our best today but we battled into a position we wanted, but we couldn’t defend that corner at the end. It’s a disappointing feeling having worked so hard.

“I thought we were in the ascendancy, we had some good chances, the goal was slow in coming. We battled in the first half, their keeper mad a couple of really good saves.

“We weren’t at our very best, particular in the attacking half. We did enough but needed to defend the corner better.”

Howe on Bruno Guimaraes’ goal: “He did very well, it was an outstanding finish. He made a difference, his enthusiasm, passion and energy made a big difference.”

On the penalty awarded to Newcastle: “I hadn’t seen it, I’m only seeing it now. The big thing is the defender isn’t looking at the ball at all, he’s looking at Dan [Burn]. I think it’s probably the right call.”

On Anthony Gordon: “I was really pleased with his impact, he definitely changed the dynamic, energy, pace, directness. It was a good cameo for Anthony.”

On Spurs’ second goal: “We are disappointed with the first goal, it was a standard cross and we haven’t defended it well enough.

“Second one, we didn’t deal with the first contact then didn’t stop the overhead kick. Somehow it went in. It’s a painful one for us to take.”

Howe speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “It’s hugely frustrating, we worked really hard to get ourselves in that position. We were knocking on the door, the goal finally came and then we didn’t protect the lead well enough on two occasions. Ultimately, we haven’t defended a corner well enough, not doing our jobs individually, not getting the first contact.

“I thought we were strong, the better team, created the majority of chances but weren’t clinical enough. It took too long for us to score today.

On Bruno Guimaraes not starting: “Rotational reasons, we’ve got such a busy schedule ahead, we want him at his physical best. It was a chance to rotate midfield slightly without unbalancing it. The first half performance was strong.

On the penalty: “I don’t think the defender looks at the ball, he just looks at Dan Burn, and I don’t think that can ever be right.”

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank speaking to Sky Sports: “The performance showed fantastic mentality and character. Every team needs that. It is fair to say it has been a tough week, fourth game in 10 days, third away game. St James’ Park is always a difficult place to come. Last 60 minutes I am very happy with that performance overall. The ability to react to setbacks was great.

On the penalty decision: “At 2-1 down it was an absolute mistake from the VAR. The ref did good to do the ref call and they encourage the refereeing call on the pitch. For me that is never a penalty. Our fans were excellent, 3,000 fans traveling us here on a Tuesday. The way they supported Vic [Guglielmo Vicario], I liked that a lot.”

On Cristian Romero: “Cuti is a top player, we all know that. His performance overall today was very good. He handles Nick Woltemade and his header was a striker’s goal.”

Frank speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “It says a lot about the mentality of the team, it’s been a tough week, coming here after four games in ten days against a good Newcastle team.

“We suffered the first 25 minutes. The way the team handled two setbacks showed a lot about the character of the team, which I love.

“It’s never a penalty, we want the ref calls on the pitch, to support that, it can only be a clear and obvious mistake. It’s never a penalty in my opinion, there are ten of those a game.

“I’m happy with our fans, there were 3,000 of them and we could hear them all game.

“Sometimes you need to suffer, after that we were very brave, calm on the ball going forward. There’s a lot to love about the performance.

“I haven’t seen many strikers score a better header than the first one [from Romero], the second one tells you everything that he scored a bicycle kick.”

Tottenham defender Kevin Danso speaking to Sky Sports: “It was a tough match, always difficult to come to St James’ Park and it’s always tough away from home. We showed the mentality that we had been working on throughout the season.”

On Romero’s first equaliser: “Gave us a lot of momentum. He always leads by example. Scored two very important goals, the second one was a very nice goal. He just showed again today what a world class defender he is.”

“We’re just going to keep pushing on. We just have to keep that mentality.

On the penalty decision: “It’s tough. It feels like some weeks a ref will give it and some weeks they won’t. We just have to focus and do exactly what we did today.”

“I train everyday with Leo [Messi] in the national team” 🇦🇷

Cristian Romero talks through his 95th minute equaliser against Newcastle. pic.twitter.com/dPE6zfs5Fp

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 2, 2025

Here’s how fans reacted after Romero’s celebration mimicking Guimaraes leads to a bust-up…