Cristian Romero and Bruno Guimarães clashed again at St James’ Park on Tuesday night as Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to snatch a point from Newcastle United.
Cristian Romero reignited his long-standing feud with Bruno Guimarães during Tottenham Hotspur’s thrilling 2-2 draw against Newcastle United. The Spurs captain is looking to close the gap in the race for European football with a vital point for Thomas Frank’s side at St James’ Park on Tuesday night.
Guimarães, who came on for Sandro Tonali at half-time, put the Magpies ahead in the second half. The Newcastle captain celebrated by firing a shot past Romero and cupping his ear.
Moments later, a Tottenham defender beat Dan Byrne and headed the ball into the bottom corner to equalize. Anthony Gordon then put the Magpies back on top after being awarded a controversial penalty.
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In the final moments of stoppage time, Romero scored with a bicycle kick and could not help but provoke Guimarães, his rival at both club and international level. He also cupped his ears, imitating the Newcastle midfielder.
After the final whistle, Romero exchanged words with Guimarães, and a brawl broke out in the middle of the park. Matthijs Tell had to stop the Argentine and Brazilian players from continuing to exchange words.
This was not the first time the two had clashed. Both sides were furious when they met in a pre-season friendly earlier this year. During the match between Tottenham and Newcastle in Seoul, South Korea, Guimarães grabbed Romero by the throat.
Just before half-time, a Tottenham defender collided with a Newcastle midfielder on the edge of the penalty area. Guimarães got caught in the tangle and fell to the grass, then jumped up and lunged at Romero.
The Brazilian grabbed the Argentine by the neck and both teams rushed to separate them. Tensions remained high and Joelinton then caught Archie Gray with an elbow to add to the drama.
Romero has not beaten Guimarães in a competitive match since Tottenham beat Newcastle 4-1 in the Premier League in December 2023. However, the Argentine can claim bragging rights when it comes to international matches.
Romero was instrumental in Argentina defeating Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America group stage in November 2023. The Spurs captain went on to lift the trophy, building on his contribution to last year’s World Cup victory in Qatar.
Remarkably, after Tuesday’s game against Newcastle, the centre-half revealed that he learned the bicycle kick technique from none other than Lionel Messi. “I watch Leo Messi every day with the national team, and it was a great goal,” Romero said.
Frank, on the other hand, said: “It was a perfect bicycle kick, it hit the shin and went into the bottom corner. I’m going to start praising Kuti. I think he deserves all the praise for his best performance: defense, on the ball, calmness, composure, dueling.”
“Then he went up there and scored two goals. The bicycle kick probably gets a little more praise, but I think the header is more extraordinary. The way he does it is better than a lot of strikers.”
“Having said that, I think I really liked the character of the team, the mentality, what they showed after three tough games.
“To go here, our fourth game in 10 days, our third away game, in a very difficult place, losing twice, falling behind twice and coming back shows everything about the team’s desire and mentality.”
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