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It looked as if history was about to repeat itself.
Spurs have suffered some painful defeats at St James' Park in recent years and it felt as though this was the latest after Anthony Gordon put Newcastle United back in front late on.
"It's happening again," Newcastle supporters chanted after their side took a 2-1 lead in the Premier League on Tuesday. "Tottenham Hotspur – it's happening again!"
But there would be a very different sense of deja vu inside the stadium at full-time after Spurs captain Cristian Romero scored a dramatic 95th-minute overhead kick.
Just as against Liverpool in August and Arsenal in September, Newcastle conceded a stoppage-time sucker punch against a member of the established order at home.
No other side have thrown away more points - 11 - from winning positions in the Premier League this season than Eddie Howe's team.
Football is never so simple, of course, but Newcastle would be a lot higher than 13th place in the table had they managed to get over the line after taking the lead against Spurs - let alone against Brentford, West Ham and Arsenal.
Remarkably, Newcastle would be top if they had they seen out those four games - instead they sit 11 points behind leaders Arsenal, who they gave up three points to.
"It's a real strange one," Howe said. "Sometimes these things go in cycles and happen, and you can quite work them out, like our away form. This is another one.
"Historically we have been very good at seeing games out and navigating tough situations, managing the game. We have got to try and re-find that quickly because it's costing us important points."
Yet Newcastle appeared to have shaken off those issues on home soil, at least.
After somehow losing to Arsenal in September, despite still being ahead in the 83rd minute, Howe's side won six straight home games in all competitions.
No wonder, then, in his programme notes before the Spurs game, defender Dan Burn declared: "Under the lights at St James', I always fancy our chances."
Not least against a vulnerable Spurs side who had won just one of their previous seven games.
But while Newcastle found a cure for their travel sickness with a 4-1 win at Everton on Saturday - their first away league victory since April - their winning run at home was halted.
Substitutes Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon had made crucial contributions - the Newcastle captain opened the scoring before his team-mate put the hosts back in front from the spot in the 86th minute after Romero's diving header had made it 1-1.
But rather than seeing the game out, and keeping hold of the ball, Newcastle gave Spurs encouragement to believe that a late equaliser was possible after nine minutes of stoppage time were added on.
"I really liked the character and the mentality in the team with what they showed after three tough games," Frank said.
"It's the fourth game in 10 days, a third away game. A very difficult place to go down two times and come back. It shows everything about the willingness and mentality in the team."
Newcastle, though, will rue the manner of that second Tottenham equaliser.
On a night when Spurs had not exactly peppered the Newcastle goal, the hosts kindly gifted their visitors their second shot on target in the dying minutes.
Aaron Ramsdale, who is filling in for injured goalkeeper Nick Pope, elected to punch substitute Mathys Tel's corner but it did not clear the box and the ball looped up invitingly inside the area.
What happened next felt like it was occurring in slow motion.
Romero, who had earlier sounded a warning in front of goal, was given the time and space to line up his overhead kick as no Newcastle player attacked the ball.
There was still an opportunity for someone to keep it out, but the ball bobbled past a sea of black and white shirts and crept past Ramsdale, who was slow to react.
St James' was stunned.
It brought back memories of Rio Ngumoha's 100th-minute winner for Liverpool back in August and Arsenal defender Gabriel's 96th-minute knockout blow in September.
"You can look back to each moment and identify the mistake or a part of the team not doing its job," Howe said. "The job for us is to coach the team to be better in those situations and that's what we will endeavor to do.
"But sometimes it becomes psychological, sometimes it becomes a fear of conceding and you do concede. There's so much that goes into it, but we have got to find ways when we are in front to be better and usually our best form of defence is to attack and I encourage us to do that all the time.
"Sometimes you have to accept that you're not in that position in the game to do it, and you just have to see it out and defend better. Today was one of those moments where we didn't do it."
