Tottenham suffered their 11th defeat of the Premier League season following North London derby loss
Tottenham Hotspur suffered a 2-1 defeat to fiercest rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
Despite Son Heung-min opening the scoring for Spurs against the run of play, an own goal from Dominic Solanke and a Leandro Trossard strike meant the Gunners won the North London derby bragging rights. With that, they also completed a league double on Ange Postecoglou’s side, having beaten us at home back in September.
The result in midweek stretched the Lilywhites’ winless run in the Premier League to five games. The last time they won in the Premier League was in mid-December—a 5-0 away thumping of basement boys Southampton.
Ange Postecoglou expressed his disappointment after the 2-1 loss to Arsenal, claiming his team were “way too passive” in the first half and that allowed the home side to take control of the game. However, Arsenal’s leveller should not have stood.
The corner that led to Solanke’s own goal should have been a goal-kick with replays visibly showing Pedro Porro’s clearance striking Leandro Trossard’s leg before it went out of play. It was a tough call to make with the naked eye but the referee Simon Hooper should have done better there.
When asked in the post-match presser about Arsenal’s first goal which came from a corner that should not have been awarded, Ange Postecoglou told Football London:
“Well it did. It did but I don’t want to talk about referees. I have got to take responsibility for my team and I let the referees take responsibility for theirs. It wasn’t a corner. It’s how things are going for us at the moment. But that aside, we weren’t anywhere near the level we needed to be in that first half in such a big game. We have got to understand that what we can control is the first thing we need to focus on.”
Big Ange is certainly not making any excuses for Tottenham’s poor showing at the Emirates Stadium. It was a flat display, devoid of hunger, desire and quality from the players. Spurs allowed way too much time and space for Mikel Arteta’s side to run the show and dictate terms in the first half, allowing them to grow in confidence which was shot following back-to-back cup defeats to Newcastle United and Manchester United.
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Nonetheless, Arsenal’s first goal legally shouldn’t have ever happened and the Tottenham faithful have every right to be hurt. It was an extremely poor call from the referee and Big Ange and Co. will no doubt be feeling aggrieved, especially considering just how crucial that goal turned out to be in the context of the match.
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Big Ange could have chosen the poor officiating that led to the Gunners’ equaliser as an excuse after the game, but instead, he has focused on his team’s performance which was nowhere near good enough. To take ownership after a derby defeat and slam his players for that display is the least he could have done.
