Analysing Tim Krul's Performance vs. Tottenham

Newcastle United claimed another Premier League scalp this weekend, triumphing over Tottenham at White Hart Lane thanks to a monumental performance in goal from Tim Krul.

Eleven matches into the Premier League season, Newcastle United are now, if only temporarily, level on points with Manchester United, a feat that would have been difficult to imagine after the first few rounds of the campaign.

It's not all too often that one can confidently say the game would have been lost were it not for the presence of one individual, but such was the security that Krul gave his side from between the sticks. He was fully deserving of his Man of the Match reward.

As the official BT Sport Panel account shows, the Dutchman recorded no fewer than 14 saves against Spurs, the best tally by a Premier League stopper in one outing for seven years:

Krul's performances also mean that the Magpies have now collected two clean sheets in a row, capitalising on their morale-boosting 2-0 triumph against Jose Mourinho's Chelsea last weekend.

It wasn't as if these were routine saves for Alan Pardew's No. 1, either. In front of a North London crowd, the likes of Roberto Soldado, Paulinho, Andros Townsend, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Christian Eriksen all had their admirable attempts at goal but were soundly rejected at every turn.

Krul, a 25-year-old Netherlands international, has cemented his place as Newcastle's first-choice goalkeeper since moving to the club as an academy player in 2006.

While one can't expect the player to replicate this sort of performance on a weekly basis, it's certainly nice for the Tynesiders to know they've got an assured pair of gloves (and feet) at the back, claiming three points this weekend that will be of vital importance heading into the winter period.