Key events
84 min Not everybody loves Bukayo Saka. He’s being booed viciously after stopping the game to receive treatment. Who knows whether it’s genuine or not.
83 min It’s been a hard game to assess. You can legitimately argue any or all these contradictory points: that Spurs have dominated, that Arsenal have had the clearest chances, that Spurs haven’t really looked like scoring, that David Raya has had an excellent game. Ach, I don’t know.
82 min The crowd appeal for a penalty when Gabriel makes a firm but clean tackle on Solanke. Sarr collects the loose ball and belts it wide from 25 yards. Not a bad effort.
81 min: Double substitution for Arsenal Gabriel Jesus and the debutant Raheem Sterling come on for Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli. Although Martinelli missed a good chance in the first half, his defensive work was extremely good.
80 min: Spurs substitution Timo Werner for James Maddison, who flattered to deceive a little.
79 min “This Tottenham team is going in right direction,” says Yash Gupta. “But their three leaders in Son, Romero and Maddison aren’t doing heavy lifting. Not the first time this season Romero has been atrocious in defending in clutch moments.
“Odobert has been brought on but on the right. He looked tame on the right against Newcastle. But Big Ange plays Son on the left despite the likeliness of Odobert’s positive play for the whole team and Son being underwhelming out on the wing. I think it is time to move Son central along with Solanke.”
How would that work in Big Ange’s 4-3-3 though?
78 min For all their possession Spurs don’t really look like creating a chance, never mind scoring. They’ve taken the goal badly and Arsenal are controlling the game for now.
77 min Arsenal’s best move of the amtch is jiggered when White is caught offside. Trossard’s shot was saved by Vicario anyway.
75 min “Ballon d’Or: Nicolas Jover,” says Charles Antaki.
Ballon c’Or, surely. Christ, sorry.
74 min Spurs work the ball neatly across the face of the area, only for Solanke to be caught on his heels when Maddison tries to play him in. Arsenal, as Gary Neville observers, are defending with admirable discipline and ferocious discipline. This is surely their best defence since the Back Four barely conceded a goal in the 1998-99 season.
71 min The Spurs players and fans are getting frustrated at, well, everything: the referee, the scoreline, climate change, the reveal in the last episode of Presumed Innocent.
70 min “Romero has the look and antics of a defender’s defender but is he really any good?” wonders Sean Orlowicz. “That is so poor to just get shoved like that and take it.”
I think overall he’s a really good defender but that was weird. It was like he forgot where he was and what he was doing.
68 min: Double substitution for Spurs Wilson Odobert and Pape Sarr come on for Brennan Johnson, who didn’t have his best game, and Rodrigo Bentancur.
66 min What was that Pet Shop Boys song again?
Saka curls an inswinging corner into the six-yard box, where Gabriel eases Romero out of the way and thumps a header into the net. Romero was moved aside too easily, Vicario couldn’t get through a crowd of players and that gave Gabriel the space he needed. It was a cracking header.
GOAL! Tottenham 0-1 Arsenal (Gabriel 64)
You bet he will!
64 min Arsenal break from a Spurs corner. First Havertz almost gets clear, then Saka has a shot blocked by Porro, then Arsenal win a corner. Will Saka put this under the crossbar?
62 min Arsenal’s evolution from dreamers to pragmatists is fascinating. Those of you who watch them every week will know more than me, but it feels like that miserable night at the Etihad was to Mikel Arteta what Arsenal 1-3 Benfica was to George Graham.
60 min Johnson moves promisingly into the area, only to shoot tamely at Raya with his left foot. To me he looks lower on confidence than ability, though there are legitimate questions as to whether he’s good enough for the team Spurs aspire to be.
60 min “Kári Tulinius was right, of course, about the advertising hoardings, but the picture made me nostalgic for the times when you could name a stadium just by seeing one of the goals,” says Paul McGrory. “Green stanchions at Highbury, dark blue at Spurs, red netting at Anfield, stanchions through the netting at Old Trafford. Now the goals have been designed by science to make sure goals are always spotted – the earliest form of VAR. And don’t get me started on decimal currency…”
59 min Johnson runs at Timber, into the area, and drives a low cross that is put behind for a corner by Gabriel. This game is still very difficult to call. I have a hunch Arsenal might nick it, mainly because of their experience, but you can make an equally good case for Spurs to win I’m sure.
57 min Havertz threatens to put Martinelli through on goal, only for Van de Ven to open his legs and show his class. Okay, his speed.
56 min “Kári Tulinius is right,” says Jeremy Boyce. “No more Raleigh Bikes or Castrol GTX. Viz Comic’s Billy The Fish strip was great for this, the Fulchester United stadium was full of Eat Food, Smoke Tabs and Drink Beer hoardings. As bad for footie fans as smartphones are for our kids, eh?”
Yeah but at least with Food, Tabs and Beer you only hated yourself after the event, not during.
55 min As in the first half, Arsenal have survived the first 10 minutes and are startint to play a bit.
There has only been one goalless draw in this fixture in the 21st century, for whatever that’s worth. Weirdly, before that they were four in six games between 1996 and 1998.
54 min “Maybe next summer, Howard Webb can convene a preseason zoom call with all 40 Premier League managers and captains, and simply put on the screen the long list of things that call for a player caution,” says Eric Peterson. “‘Guys, this is not that hard. This is basic math. Games last for 90 minutes. You only get a combination of two shirt pulls, cleats on the ankle, wasting time, delaying a free kick, mouthing off about an obvious call, et cetera, et cetera, before my referees are going to tell you to hit the road. This is not that hard. Maybe, just maybe, you lot might just play the damn game, and stop trying to game the game. Grow the eff up.’”
Though I agree with you, if he tried that he’d probably have a shiny new P45 by sundown.
52 min Spurs have made a fast start to the second half, as they did the first, and White has no choice but to give away another corner. Arsenal deal with it pretty comfortably, as they have all afternoon.
“Love Charles Antaki’s Zappa reference,” says Joe Pearson, “but my inner pedant has to point out that Over-Nite Sensation came out in 1973, which is a little more than 35 years ago. Don’t mess with the Zomby Woof!”
50 min “From an Arsenal point of view, we’re really missing the control that Odegaard brings,” says Will Vignoles, “but cautiously pleased with how it’s gone so far – arguably should be at least a goal up. Fingers crossed they get their shooting boots on second half.”
49 min Jorginho pulls back Maddison and is booked. This is getting tedious but I really feel for the referee.
48 min Johnson’s flat cross is met in front of the near post by Solanke, whose stooping header deflects behind off Partey. Or did Solanke miss the ball? Either way it’s a corner. Maddison takes it short and curls an inswinging cross from the right that Van de Ven meets with a decent flicker header. Raya makes a comfortable save to his right.
48 min A stop-start start to the second half.
47 min “Regarding your comment about players cheating. Yeah, they do and it’s good if they stop getting away with it, but some of the bookings today, and yesterday for that matter…” begins Espen. “The game isn’t that physical anymore anyway, and when you look at that Betancour booking for instance. It’s a nothing foul. If a yellow becomes the norm for stuff like that we will eventually end up with a non contact sport. Or a lot of 7 a side games.”
A big problem is that cheating has become so sophisticated that it’s very hard for referees to distinguish between, for example, a clumsy foul (no yellow card) and a cynical one (yellow card). The dam’s almost ready to burst.
46 min Peep peep! Spurs begin the second half.
“You know, even when I fell in love with football I knew there was something not quite right,” says Niall Mullen. “But the relentless, almost obsessional, player positioning by mega-brained coaches is the missing piece I didn’t know I needed. Emotion and off-the-cuff invention be damned, this is football!”
If you want improvisation, go and watch
