Long before kick-off José Mourinho walked out on to the pitch and stood alone, his eyes scanning the vast empty stands. The Tottenham manager says Newcastle became “part of my life” during his years working as first interpreter and then coach under the late Sir Bobby Robson at Barcelona and that he retains an “emotional connection” with the club. This bond – something perhaps intensified now Mourinho knows Newcastle could soon be the subject of a £300m Saudi Arabian-led takeover for which he expressed considerable pre-match enthusiasm – may have been behind the Portuguese failing to win on his seven previous visits to St James’ Park as a Premier League manager. Thanks to a goal from Son Heung‑min and two more from Harry Kane it was eighth time lucky as the flame of Spurs’ European qualification ambitions continues to flicker. “It was a special win for me,” Mourinho said. “The team was tired but we showed great resilience and desire to fight for our objective of reaching the Europa League ... and Harry is incredible.” Steve Bruce also has his eye on distant horizons and, yet again, Newcastle’s manager reiterated it was time for the Premier League to decide whether or not to approve a takeover agreed four months ago. Undone by defensive errors, Newcastle played very well in patches but could have done without a third successive defeat which both facilitated Spurs’ rise to seventh and suggested the agonising wait for a decision on the buy-out is affecting their concentration. A raft of injuries prompted Bruce’s reversion to 3-4-3 but it produced a bright start. No one epitomised Newcastle’s initial omnipotence more than Allan Saint-Maximin with the French winger contributing one gorgeous, dizziness inducing, dummy to leave Harry Winks utterly bamboozled. When Matt Ritchie, restored to left wing-back, curled in a fabulous right‑foot cross Jonjo Shelvey, arriving late in the box, headed over from 10 yards. Within a few minutes it looked a costly miss as Son Heung-min scored. Until the first drinks break Mourinho’s side had barely threatened but something he said during that interval clearly registered as, almost immediately, the impressive Lucas Moura forced Fabian Schär into a concession of possession following the defender’s heavy touch. It set in motion a chain of events which saw Moura, Kane and a stretching Giovanni Lo Celso set up Son. Although DeAndre Yedlin blocked his path, Son shifted the ball on to his right foot and shot low though his legs, evading Martin Dubravka at his near post. Significantly Mourinho used the break to tweak formation and shift Lo Celso into the hole. While Bruce was left to reflect on the decline in Schär’s once assured game, Saint-Maximin again raised the home tone, provoking sufficient uncertainty in the visiting defence to permit Shelvey to whip in a splendid cross headed against a post by Dwight Gayle. That Schär error apart, Bruce’s team monopolised the attacking threat. With Shelvey in imperious playmaking midfield mood they created the lion’s share of the chances, requiring Hugo Lloris to remain on his toes. Ritchie’s deserved equaliser was created by a combination of the substitute Valentino Lazaro’s fine dribble and Serge Aurier’s panicked clearance. That ungainly slice on the part of the right-back – playing only two days after his brother Christopher was shot dead outside a Toulouse nightclub – saw the ball fall to Ritchie, who took a stabilising touch before extending his left foot and lashing it into the top corner. Kane had, deceptively, seemed a little subdued but he was in the right place at the right time to head the substitute Steven Bergwijn’s curving cross beyond Dubravka. It was the 200th club goal of his career and emphasised that Emil Krafth, normally a right‑back, is not a central defender. Mourinho’s maiden victory on Tyneside was sealed by another Kane header after the England captain’s connection with Dubravka’s parry of Erik Lamela’s counter-attacking shot. Bruce said: “We were naive and gave Harry Kane too much room but it was the best we’ve played for a long time. You don’t always get what you deserve though.”