What an enthralling roller-coaster of a game. What a crazy seven minutes from 1-0 down to 2-1 and a man up. What a 14 minutes of heaven until Sanchez brought us back down to earth.
Deflated and disappointed at the end it almost felt like a loss but in the cold light of day this was fantastic entertainment and still leaves us with everything to play for.
In a lot of ways it was a carbon copy of last season’s fixture. Spurs playing well early on, dominated without quite breaking through. This was never going to be as one-sided as last year – Wenger’s decision to play with two holding midfield players a clear acceptance of the fear Pochettino’s team holds for him. Still, it was surprising how negative Arsenal were, sitting deep, hitting Welbeck early to try to use his pace on the break.
Just like last year we failed to capitalise on our early ascendancy and gave away a soft goal late in the half, leading to a rocky period around half time. For the first time I was worried.
Then came the turning point of the match, a deserved red card for Coquelin that helped rouse the team and the crowd. Within seven minutes Spurs were in the lead and it looked like they would go on to get more. It wasn’t so much the man advantage that made the difference, more the mental momentum shift.
The Kane goal was a thing of beauty, worthy of the occasion. The Spurs striker cemented his reputation with two goals in last year’s fixture and he seemed destined to win the game again, running over to celebrate below where I was sitting.
Pandemonium ensued in the stands. It was a wonderful moment, one of those intense experiences that makes supporting Tottenham so worthwhile, despite all the ups and downs.
Then out of nowhere the sucker punch. Up until Sanchez’s goal it had felt relatively comfortable. We were still on the front foot.
In the last ten minutes either team could have won, with our defence suddenly porous and Arsenal leaving plenty of gaps at the back.
With 26 shots to 10, Tottenham clearly had the stronger claim to the three points. The title is still a possibility for us, today was never going to be decisive in that way. But we had the chance to finish them off, unfortunately we didn’t take it.
Were you happy with Spurs performance? Can Pochettino’s men still win the title? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Anything But Penalties 