Newcastle notched their first opening day win in five years as they overcame Andre Villas-Boas' Spurs side thanks to a late penalty from Hatem Ben Arfa.
Demba Ba had given the Magpies the advantage with a superb curling volley ten minutes into the second half before Jermain Defoe levelled with just 14 minutes left into the contest. However, the contest was settled just minutes later when Ben Arfa converted a spot kick after he had been felled in the area by Aaron Lennon.
The win was slightly marred by the dismissal of manager Alan Pardew from the sidelines for a push on one of the referee's assistants after Newcastle were denied a throw-in.
The last time Newcastle won on the opening day of the season expectations had been high, with Sam Allardyce in charge for his first game as manager after Glenn Roeder had been relieved of his duties at the end of the previous campaign.
On that day the Geordies triumphed 3-1 over Allardyce's former club Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium thanks to a goal from Charles N'Zogbia and a double from Obafemi Martins. That result proved to be a false dawn as Allardyce was dismissed in January following a string of disappointing performances.
However, despite a variety of trials and tribulations, the club has come a long way since that point and the overriding emotion at St James' Park on Saturday was that the victory could be the beginning of another special season for Pardew's side.
The Magpies stunned the majority of observers last season by securing a 5th placed finish and European football, but with the Geordies competing on four fronts this campaign many have expressed doubts as to whether they can repeat that feat.
Still Pardew's men got off the perfect start against difficult opposition on Saturday night, although the early signs did not look good as Spurs enjoyed the better of the opening period.
Cheick Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Papiss Cisse and Ba all started for Newcastle despite reported concerns regarding their fitness. However, Captain Fabricio Coloccini missed out due to a hamstring injury, new signing Vurnon Anita started on the bench.
Spurs had pipped Newcastle to 4th place in the Premier League last season - although they were denied Champions League football because of Chelsea's triumph in the competition - and they appeared the more fluid and composed team in the early stages.
New signing Gylfi Sigurdsson had the visitors first real chance of the game, as he was denied by Tim Krul from close range, although the Icelandic midfielder had already been flagged for offside. Defoe also came close as smacked a shot against the post before Gareth Bale headed against the bar from a Lennon cross.
Newcastle did have chances of their own in the opening half, and they came close to opening the scoring when a Ba effort was deflected wide by Cisse.
Ten minutes after the interval the home side did take the lead, as Kyle Walker misjudged a deep cross from Danny Simpson to allow Ba to curl a strike past Friedel and into the bottom corner of the net.
Jubilation ensued but that was soon cut short when Pardew was sent to the stands for shoving linesman Peter Kirkup after claiming the ball had gone out of the play in the build-up to a Sigurdsson chance.
Pardew's anger was furthered on 76 minutes - just five minutes after Anita had replaced Cabaye to a rapturous reception - when Defoe followed up his own effort to scramble home from close range after Krul had kept out the England international's well placed header.
Tottenham's parity was short-lived however, as Ben Arfa - who had bamboozled Spurs for large periods throughout the match - surged into the box from a short corner only to be brought down by Lennon and substitute Rafael van der Vaart. Referee Martin Atkinson duly pointed to the spot and Frenchman Ben Arfa coolly slotted the penalty into the bottom corner to restore Newcastle's lead.
That proved to be enough to secure the points, as Spurs - clearly fatigued from the effort they put in to levelling the contest - were unable to find another way back into the game and Newcastle comfortably held out to seal victory.
The first test of the Magpies' relatively thin squad comes on Thursday, as they travel to Greece to take on Atromitos for the 1st leg of their Europa League play-off before facing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge just two days later.
The versatility and depth of Newcastle's squad will be severely examined in the coming week, but for the time being the Geordie faithful can bask in the light of an opening day win for the first time in half a decade.
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