NEWCASTLE - Dele Alli silenced the complaints about Tottenham's lack of signings as the England midfielder sealed a 2-1 win at Newcastle in their Premier League opener on Saturday.
Mauricio Pochettino's side are the first club in the Premier League era not to make a single signing since the introduction of the pre-season transfer window. That low-key approach has frustrated Tottenham fans, but Alli lifted the gloom with a clinical header to seal at the points at St James' Park.
Jan Vertonghen opened the scoring with an early header and Joselu's equaliser was quickly erased by Alli as all three goals came in the first 18 minutes. Despite Tottenham's hard-fought victory, there was another August blank for Harry Kane, who started even though the England striker had only returned to training on Monday following his notable World Cup exploits.
The World Cup Golden Boot winner has now gone 14 games spanning 988 minutes without scoring in the opening month of the campaign, though on this occasion, it mattered little.
The visitors took an eighth-minute lead when Christian Eriksen's corner was headed towards goal by Davinson Sanchez, allowing fellow defender Vertonghen to find the net off the underside of the bar with a deft glancing header which crossed the line before Martin Dubravka was able to claw the ball back.
Newcastle were level within three minutes when Sanchez and Vertonghen were caught ball-watching as Matt Ritchie sent over an inviting centre from the right which Joselu headed into the bottom corner of the net past an exposed Hugo Lloris.
With momentum on their side and a full-house roaring them on, Benitez's side looked set to build from a position of strength. But thanks to more questionable defending, their parity lasted just seven minutes. Tottenham's second goal was simple in its construction and should have been comfortably dealt with. Newcastle allowed Alli a free run at the far post to send a precise header back across Dubravka into the far corner from Serge Aurier's inviting cross, which was whipped in from the right.
Meanwhile, Paul Pogba assumed the responsibility of captain handed to him by Jose Mourinho to help Manchester United get off to a winning start in the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Leicester City on Friday.
Less than a month since Pogba scored in the World Cup final to help France lift the trophy, he was thrown straight into action by Mourinho despite just returning to pre-season training this week. Pogba's third-minute spot-kick settled the hosts' nerves as United allayed some of the doom and gloom predicted by Mourinho after failing to land a series of targets before Thursday's transfer deadline. Luke Shaw sealed the points seven minutes from time before Jamie Vardy headed home a consolation for the visitors.
After a week in which Pogba has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford, with Barcelona's interest piqued by the Frenchman's frosty relationship with Mourinho after he was repeatedly dropped last season, the Portuguese showed his faith in the midfielder by surprisingly handing him the armband.
Mourinho has consistently complained in recent weeks over his lack of backing from the United board and also had a host of injuries and players lacking match sharpness after the World Cup to contend with.
United added only Brazilian midfielder Fred, teenage full-back Diogo Dalot and third-choice goalkeeper Lee Grant to the squad that finished 19 points adrift of champions Manchester City last season.
