Tottenham Hotspur captain Hugo Lloris has issued an apology to his club's fans for their "very embarrassing" display in their humiliating 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United.
Only one place and three points separated the two sides in the Premier League table ahead of Sunday's contest at St James' Park, as Spurs sought to move level on points with the Magpies in the race for Champions League qualification.
Cristian Stellini experimented with a four-man backline from the first whistle, but the Italian's tactical switch backfired horribly, as Newcastle ran riot in the first 20 minutes.
By the 10-minute mark, Eddie Howe's side had already found the back of the net three times, as Jacob Murphy struck a brace either side of Joelinton's strike in an extraordinary start to proceedings.
Showing no signs of mercy against a terrible Lilywhites team, Newcastle were 5-0 up by the 21-minute mark, as Alexander Isak got in on the act with a double of his own in front of the abject visiting supporters.
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Stellini had soon seen enough and reverted to a three-man backline - introducing Davinson Sanchez for Pape Sarr - and Spurs pulled one back early in the second half through Harry Kane.
The result was already a foregone conclusion, however, and Newcastle restored their five-goal lead through Callum Wilson in the 67th minute to blow their top-four rivals out of the water.
Lloris - who only lasted until half time before being withdrawn through injury - spoke to Sky Sports News in the wake of Spurs' shambolic loss, labelling his side's display "a bit of a mess".
"It's very embarrassing. We should apologise to the fans. We didn't show a good face and we could not match the performance of the Newcastle players," the 36-year-old said.
"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.
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"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.
"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."
When asked about the injury which forced him off during the break, Lloris admitted concern over an apparent hip problem, adding: "My injury does not sound good, I don't know if it's a muscle but around the hip when I kicked. It doesn't sound good."
Lying fifth in the Premier League table with six matches left to play, Spurs have now fallen six points behind Newcastle - who have risen to third - while Manchester United hold an identical lead over Stellini's men with a game in hand.
The Lilywhites have three full days to recover before hosting Man United in another pivotal top-four showdown at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday.
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