It is hard to look at this 2-2 draw against the enemy as anything other than two points dropped. Truth be told, I’d rather go for a long walk in the woods and forget about this one than sit here and write my, currently rather pessimistic, thoughts down.
Still, maybe this will prove cathartic.
First off, I have to say that I really dislike Spurs. Obviously, I am biased. Frankly, I find it hard to imagine anyone who is not a Spurs fan that does not dislike them. But, no matter who their manager is, or how many players they change, they are just the worst, most egregiously hateable team in the league. Which is just another reason to feel terrible that they will have left our stadium today chuffed to bits with their point. You know, the one we gave them.
We started with Vieira instead of Havertz and Eddie up top, with Jesus on the left as both Martinelli and Trossard were out. Raya kept his place in goal. His first action was to pick the ball out of the net after three minutes, but Son had been miles offside and did not even bother to celebrate.
We were on top for most of the first half. Saka scored on twenty-five minutes as he cut in and shot for the far post, only for Romero to dangle a leg that diverted it in at the near post. No less than we deserved. For the next ten minutes, we were all over them, but we failed to make the most of a series of good positions and chances. It was hard not to wonder if our profligacy would come back to haunt us.
We pressed well, and we pegged them right back on around the half hour mark until Jesus pounced to rob Maddison in his own box. Our striker put his laces through the ball, and it went over the bar. Let’s be clear; first, Jesus is a superstar and I love the guy; secondly, he should have scored and if he had done, I cannot see us failing to win the game. This miss was poor and turned out to be a huge moment.
The last ten minutes of the half saw Spuds finally wake up and investigate what our final third looked like. Raya made a fantastic save after a good Son run saw him pull the ball back for Brennan Johnson whose scuffed shot was still goal bound until our agile keeper’s intervention. Saliba celebrated it like we’d scored – he knew it was a massive let off. Replays showed Ramsdale clapping, which is what we would expect from the guy, but still a nice touch.
Instead of taking this as a warning sign and making sure to stay switched on, we did the opposite. We let Spurs probe with the ball and failed to clear the second ball after a cross. Johnson beat Saka to get to the byline and pull back for Son to somehow find space between the trio of Rice, Saliba and Gabriel and apply an annoyingly precise finish.
It came from nowhere and we had only ourselves to blame, both that we weren’t further ahead, and that we conceded a goal Arteta would have been fuming about.
Half time arrived, and Spurs were much the happier team at the interval.
We made changes at the restart. Havertz came on for Vieira, the Portuguese having had a decent half but not made much impact. At least he did not look out of his depth like he has in the past, he just didn’t dictate possession the way we would have liked. Our other change was the enforced removal of Declan Rice, who had a calf injury apparently, for Jorginho. I like the Italian, but this was a half to forget from him.
It only took five minutes for us to be awarded a penalty by VAR. Personally, I don’t understand the handball rules, but I think there should be no mitigating factors when a player blocks a goal bound shot with their arms/hands. It may not be deliberate, we might all agree it is unlucky, but a penalty should be awarded to redress the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, and when a shot is going straight in the goal until some bloke’s arm gets in the way, that is a penalty all day for me. I was not sure it would be given as I watched the fifteenth replay of an incident that required one to see it was a penalty, but, despite Gary Neville’s grumbling, it was finally given.
Saka stroked it home down the middle and we all celebrated. Lovely stuff.
Except then, we shot ourselves in the foot. I mean, we really shot ourselves in the foot. Like a centipede with a machine gun, we gave our collective feet one hell of a seeing to.
Jorginho was given the ball in our half, with no-one within ten yards of him. He dithered, then tried to beat a man (like he is well known for) and had the ball nicked off him by Maddison who had Son for company in a two on one against Saliba. He slid a simple ball through to the Korean thorn in our side, who finished past Raya to level the match. Why do we have to make it so easy for them? All I could do was shake my head.
It took the wind out of our sails, all the more so because it was such a gift. We handed it to that absolute shower on a plate. It is not worth having a go at Jorginho, because he knows better than most how desperately poorly he has done there. If the boss were unhappy with the first one, he’d have been apoplectic about this one.
However, we still had thirty-five minutes, plus injury time to make it right. Surely that would be enough?
We did a strangely bad job of getting the ball to Saka to stand up the Spuds left back who had gotten a yellow card on fifteen minutes. The lad on a booking must have been thrilled at how little he had to face one-on-ones against one of the best in the world.
Jorginho continued to be a half-yard behind the game, and we missed Rice’s anticipation and dynamism. Havertz did little more or less than Vieira had. Eddie did not offer much, and I assume it was for reasons of fitness that he stayed on when Jesus made way for Reiss Nelson with twenty minutes to go.
Spurs did not look like scoring as we piled on the pressure, mainly through a succession of corners which we made little of. Some Spurs chap handled the ball in the sort of incident that is often given as a penalty, but VAR did not check it, and I don’t understand the laws, so I have no idea if it should have been awarded or not. It was certainly not a decision consistent with many I have seen recently, which is frustrating, but it would have been a get out of jail free card that even I cannot say we deserved.
Despite the tantalising possibility of us scoring a late winner, we did not really threaten and the whole stadium had their hearts in their mouths when Richarlison struck a late shot goalwards, only to see it deflect wide.
The ref (poor all game but managing not to make any major decisions which impacted the result) decided he had seen enough, and the whistle blew.
My immediate feeling was one of disappointment. More than that, I was gutted that we made it easy for this horrific club to take a point away from a game we should have won. We’ve dropped further behind City, we aren’t even ahead of Spurs, and, as I get to the end of this report, it has not proved cathartic at all, and I am still gutted.
I suppose it is City’s relentless excellence that colours my reaction – any dropped points make it harder and harder to challenge Pep’s behemoth for the title. Yet, there is also the frustration at the careless, needless way we let Spurs score two goals, and our own wastefulness in failing to convert thirty-five minutes of utter dominance into an insurmountable lead. And, of course, there is no worse club to give points to.
The season is long, and this is hardly a disaster of a result. But if we replicate this sort of day many more times then we won’t be in the mix to win anything come May.
In the meantime, I am going for a shower. I feel dirty after that.
Until next time, ‘holics.
