Notes on a North London Derby
Bratwurst ahoy! Tottenham are in action in Dortmund this evening. Before that, here’s a quick look back at last Saturday’s lively encounter with Arsenal.
Spurs found themselves atop the Premier League table for a short period on Saturday afternoon— just under fifteen minutes in total— but ended the day five points adrift of the unshakable Leicester City.
It was always likely to be a fleeting moment at the summit, with the East Midlands overachievers needing only a victory at Vicarage Road to guarantee they’d finish the weekend back at the top of the pile; a position they’ve occupied for so long now, they might as well call it home. Pick out a colour scheme for the bathroom, consolidate all your energy bills. As you might have seen on the Dutch betting site bet.nl, Leicester are here to stay.
With Ranieri’s men pulling clear, then, it’ll be the idea that Spurs rather let Arsenal off the hook that might niggle at Mauricio Pochettino this week. While there was nothing overtly wrong with how his young side performed, you can’t underestimate the psychological impact that a six point gap— with a sizable goal difference in Spurs’ favour— would’ve had on the two North London clubs.
The players appeared to recognise an opportunity missed when they saw one, too. [We] needed to finish the game off when we had the chance, was Harry Kane’s verdict after the game. It was all very much within their reach.
To the action. A good many of the talking points were condensed into a hectic seven minute spell . In that period, Tottenham were able to take advantage of some interesting life choices by Francis Coquelin and turn the fixture in their favour after Ramsey’s wonderfully resourceful opener. At 2-1 and in a position of control, however, Spurs should’ve buried Arsenal like a time capsule. Potentially, their title challenge along with it.
Despite one or two opportunities falling the home side’s way to make certain of the win— a Kane screwed shot wide here, a Dele Alli deflected volley there— Arsenal found some of that danfangled inner strength and clawed back parity, through the talismanic Alexis Sanchez.
For a team who’ve been told a thousand time that they lack a mental edge, to the point that glorious failure must become a self-fulfilling prophecy, Wenger’s side must be given credit for their resolve in staging a comeback. Hugo Lloris might well have done better with Sanchez’s effort, with live soccer scores in action, but Arsenal will feel they deserved the point regardless.
“We All Wear Masks, Metaphorically Speaking…”
A word on Kane’s goal, then. The first thing to mention is the ball’s glorious flight path; a more visually pleasing near-parabola, you’ll be hard-pushed to find. Kane clearly enjoyed the view, too.
At one point, during the post-goal frenzy, I was sure he was about to hurl his protective mask into the crowd. It says a lot about the goodwill the Chingfordian hitman generates within the Spurs fanbase, that a lump of sweaty, flexible face plastic would’ve been fought over like a winning lottery ticket.
The humdingiest of humdingers wouldn’t have been possible without the considerable leg work of Dele Alli. The stench of terminable slow wafted from Per Mertesacker as he lurched along the touchline. From there Ali picked up the scent and hunted the German down. Possession quickly gained and one neat back-heel later, Kane was in on goal, albeit from a barely conceivable angle. Ospina was offered zero chances as the ball bent past his outstretched mitt.
Dier Consequences
Eric Dier should’ve been sent off. Already on a yellow card, it takes a special set of circumstances in which a person is able to commit essentially three fouls in one passage of play and not receive at least a stern wagging of the ref’s finger. The initial foul, the shirt tug, then the scissoring of Olivier Giroud that reduced him to a horizontal heap. A hat-trick of misconduct complete. From Hityah and Spurs’ point of view, it was a fortunate oversight by Michael Oliver.
Wimmer, Wimmer Chicken Dinner
The afternoon could’ve been rendered a total disaster if not for Kevin Wimmer. Someone mentioned in the game’s aftermath that the Austrian could potentially be viewed as the weak link in this Spurs side. Not a bit of it. That Jan Vertonghen’s absence has been such a non-issue, despite Tottenham’s Belgian defensive axis being a large part of their success this season, is testament to Wimmer’s qualities. The last ditch challenge on Aaron Ramsey, who looked set to kill off another celebrity while bearing down on Lloris, was expertly timed as it was crucial. Point rescued.
On to Dortmund.
