Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Hugo Lloris demands Tottenham team-mates apologise to fans after 'painful' Newcastle loss
Hugo Lloris spoke after Tottenham's 6-1 humiliation away to Newcastle on Sunday.
Tottenham V Brighton: Pictures
Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris demanded that his team-mates apologise to their supporters after the 6-1 drubbing by Newcastle on Sunday. The French stopper shipped five goals in 21 minutes before then being substituted off at half-time in what was an embarrassing afternoon for the north London outfit who now sit six points off the top-four places.
Three goals inside the opening nine minutes shellshocked the visitors at St James' Park. A brace from Jacob Murphy and Joelinton's finish prompted some of the travelling supporters to leave the game and make the long journey back to London as they had already seen enough.
Two more goals went in during the next 10 minutes as Alexander Isak struck twice past Lloris as a dejected Spurs team looked devoid of inspiration in the opening 45 minutes and prompted interim boss Cristian Stellini to change formation in order to avoid further embarrassment.
Lloris was brought off at half-time owing to injury, though Harry Kane did get a consolation before substitute Callum Wilson completed the drubbing and delivered a hammer blow to Spurs' top-four hopes.
JUST IN Hugo Lloris substitution explained in Spurs' Newcastle humiliation [LATEST]
After the game, Lloris candidly spoke out and could not hide his disappointment at the result and performance. "It’s very embarrassing. We should apologise to the fans," Lloris told Sky Sports. "We didn’t show a good face and we could not match the performance of the Newcastle players. We were late in all aspects of the game and we completely missed the first part of the game. The second half is a different story but it’s really painful.
“It is not even about tactics, we just could not fight and we were late. I think Newcastle just had a great performance, they were very aggressive and offensive everywhere they had the ball. It is difficult right now to assess the performances but there was a lack of pride. You can get punched once or twice, but it was like we could not even react or bounce back. Newcastle deserve a lot of credit for starting the game at 100 miles per hour. They knew exactly what to do.
Don't miss...
Newcastle star Jacob Murphy 'sends Hugo Lloris into retirement' [REACTION]
Spurs fans leave Newcastle match after nine minutes after horror start [LATEST]
Tottenham and Chelsea target Julian Nagelsmann 'changes mind' on job [NEXT MANAGER]
������️ "It's very embarrassing."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 23, 2023
Hugo Lloris apologises to the Tottenham fans after today's 'painful' defeat against Newcastle. pic.twitter.com/5sdTCkMxLa
"We can try to find excuses and analyse the performances but the first thing is we miss the fight. In football if you go on the pitch without the desire to show aggressiveness makes things very hard.
"It was a bit of a mess on the field. We cannot hide ourselves behind the club's problems, we are professionals but today there was too much lacked. There was a differences in level between Newcastle and Tottenham. We have two very difficult games to bounce back with in midweek."
Rival supporters on social media questioned whether Lloris' substitution was down to injury or to take him out of the firing line, but the Frenchman explained that he may be sidelined for some time.
"My injury does not sound good," he added. "I don’t know if it’s a muscle but around the hip when I kicked. It doesn’t sound good."