KANE IS SPURS SAVIOUR
Spot-on striker rescues a point against Arsenal in London derby
THE last eight days have wrought a dramatic change on Spurs’ season. It is as if a flash-flood of self-doubt and uncertainty has washed away the hope and the resilience and the achieving against-the-odds that characterised the seven months that dominated their play until then.
After their losses to Burnley and Chelsea, to watch Spurs in the north London derby at Wembley, grateful for a late penalty save from Hugo Lloris that rescued a point against their greatest rivals, was to see a team playing not so much against Arsenal but against fear.
Fear is everywhere at Spurs now that spring is here. Fear that Mauricio Pochettino, their manager, will leave for Real Madrid or Manchester United at the end of the season. Fear that Harry Kane will follow him out of the club if they do not end their 11-year trophy drought soon.
Fear that a side who were involved in the title race with Liverpool and Manchester City until last weekend will now not even finish in the top four. Fear that they will be overhauled by Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.
Fear of the mockery. Fear of the chants that tell them ‘it’s happening again’. Fear of being called ‘bottlers’. Fear of people saying ‘it’s gone all Spursy’. All the jokes and the jibes seemed to be sitting on their shoulders at Wembley as they spent most of the match trying to get on level terms with Unai Emery’s side.
The fear is in the players and in their actions. Poor Kieran Trippier, a titan for England at the World Cup, looks so drained of confidence he can barely play a simple pass. He overhit one cross so fiercely that it went out on the full for a throw-in. Much of the team’s former breathtaking fluency has gone.
Where once they looked forward, now they are looking over their shoulders. Their wobble is fullyfledged now despite this draw, a result they were fortunate to salvage. Put it this way: it is a good job they are taking a three-goal lead to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League this week.
Behind to an early goal from Aaron Ramsey, caused by yet another defensive mistake, Spurs may at least have recovered some of their self-belief by forcing their way back into the game and winning a late penalty that Kane converted with aplomb. That, certainly, was the rationale that Pochettino and Kane clung to after the game.
But they still had to rely on Lloris to save Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s last-minute penalty. And they still had to rely on the fact that Jan Vertonghen was allowed to encroach in the area and then prevent Aubameyang converting Alex Iwobi’s cross in the aftermath of the spot kick. Spurs got a point, yes, they kept Arsenal at bay, yes, but they are nowhere near getting their momentum back yet. Arsenal were the more assured team from the start. They should have scored in the second minute. Iwobi advanced to the edge of the Spurs area and when his weak shot was only half blocked, it ballooned into the air and fell to Alexandre Lacazette. Lacazette was in space but he swung his left foot wildly at the ball and scuffed his shot well wide. Spurs still looked short of confidence, not as sharp or as disciplined as they were earlier in the season. Sometimes, you can tell by small things: Lloris played a short goal-kick wide to Toby Alderweireld on the edge of the box but Alderweireld had turned his back on it. He needed the roar of the fans to alert him to the pass. So it was not a surprise when Arsenal took the lead after a quarter of an hour. Kane fell as he was attempting a turn on the edge of the Arsenal area and as the away supporters yelled their glee, the ball was cleared to the half way line. Davinson Sanchez botched his interception and headed the ball straight to Lacazette. Spurs were suddenly exposed.
Lacazette played a simple pass forward and now Ramsey was free, running alone at Lloris from the edge of the centre circle. Ramsey, who is leaving for Juventus in the summer and was playing in his final north London derby, stayed calm, took the ball around the keeper, staved off a late, desperate challenge and slid the ball into the net.
Spurs struggled to find any of the fluency that characterised their game earlier in the season and did not muster a shot on goal until after half an hour had elapsed. Kane, who returned from injury last week, still did not look match sharp. He did score a superb header from a Christian Eriksen free-kick but he was offside.
A few minutes before half-time, Lloris produced a fine save to keep out a shot from Iwobi but when play switched to the other end, it was Bernd Leno’s turn to save his team with a magnificent double save.
Kane floated a cross into the box which found Eriksen unmarked. The Spurs playmaker met it on the volley but drilled it too close to Leno, who managed to deflect it away. It fell straight to Moussa Sissoko, who hit it instantly and sent it arrowing towards the top corner. But somehow, Leno reacted quickly enough to fling up his left arm and divert the ball over the bar. Arsenal should have extended their lead early in the second half. Iwobi fed Nacho Monreal, who was overlapping down the left and when Monreal pulled his cross back to the edge of the box, Lacazette was waiting unmarked. He tried to steer his shot across Lloris but diverted it wide of his left-hand post as well. Chances began to flow more readily now. A lofted free-kick from Eriksen was inadvertently flicked on by Shkodran Mustafi and when it fell to Alderweireld, he met it on the volley at the back post but could only slam his shot into the sidenetting. Some Spurs fans thought he had scored, which caused the Arsenal supporters much amusement. They were less amused a few minutes later. The game was beginning to drift and it seemed Arsenal were going to see it out with their lead intact. But then Eriksen drifted another inviting free-kick towards the back post and as Kane tried to get on the end of it, he was pushed in the back by Mustafi. Kane had
appeared to be offside but the linesman did not flag for it. Referee Anthony Taylor, though, had spotted the foul and pointed to the spot. Kane took it himself and sent Leno the wrong way. Now Spurs scented the kind of comeback that could chase all their uncertainties away. Instead, as the clock ticked into the 90th minute, Aubameyang, on for Lacazette, chased a ball towards the byline and went down under the slightest of touches from Sanchez. The referee awarded a penalty and Arsenal sensed victory. Aubameyang’s penalty was dreadful, hit with neither conviction nor power, nor accuracy. Lloris dived to his right and pushed it out but the danger had not passed. Iwobi picked up the loose ball and drove it across goal. It seemed for a second as if Aubameyang would tap it in and atone for his penalty but a late challenge from Vertonghen denied him and it went over the bar. As both sides pressed for a winner in a frenetic last few minutes, Lucas Torreira was sent off for a late, high tackle on Danny Rose. As Arsenal went to applaud their fans at the final whistle, Spurs’ players trudged off, alone with their fears.