Tottenham fans have spent their weekend in the Football Transfer Tavern celebrating a hard fought and crucial victory over bitter rivals Arsenal in the north London derby.
The result moved Mauricio Pochettino’s side above the Gunners into fifth place in the Premier League, and capped a ten days which has also seen the club book a trip to Wembley to face Chelsea in the Capital One Cup final.
And in Harry Kane, Tottenham boast the countries in form striker – who took his tally to 22 for the season in all competitions with a superb brace yesterday.
For Arsenal fans, it has been a weekend to forget – especially when you consider Mesut Ozil had given them an early lead which was soon thrown away.
There is now a genuine fear amongst Arsenal fans that Tottenham could end up finishing above them for the first time since 1995, and claim that final Champions League place in the process.
Here are five things we learned from yesterday’s derby.
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Click on Harry Kane to reveal 5 things we learned from Tottenham vs Arsenal
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Mesut Ozil is starting to look worth the money
The German has taken a lot of stick since his record breaking £42.5million move to Arsenal in the summer of 2013. But having returned from injury recently, Ozil is starting to look like the player Arsenal considered worth splashing so much money on.
In one of few positives for the Gunners yesterday, Ozil made it three goals in three games with a superb close range finish in the first half. His improved form of late will be pleasing for Arsene Wenger, who predicted he would go on to become one of the best players in the Premier League this season.
Scoring in a north London derby will do him no harm, and goes some way to showing he is capable of being the man for a big occasion.
‘Nitty-gritty’ Arsenal was a one time thing
Arsenal were praised for their recent win at Manchester City which saw them go away from home, soak up the pressure of a big rival, and hit them on the counter attack to produce a classic smash and grab.
It was the type of ‘nitty gritty’, ‘backs to the wall’ – whatever cliche you like to describe a classic away day performance – that Arsenal have so often failed to produce away to their big rivals.
Rather than attempt to repeat the trick twice however, Arsenal went hell for leather at White Hart Lane yesterday, and once again threw away the points from a winning position.
Rather than playing with their heads as they had done so well at the Etihad, Arsenal looked to kill the game with their fluent attacking football, and left themselves vulnerable at the back time and again, for which they were eventually punished.
And had it not been for the performance of David Ospina, it could have been even worse.
Hugo Lloris once again showed he is one of the best in the business
Whilst Ospina was decent, opposite number Hugo Lloris at the other end proved why he may well be the difference between who finishes fourth come May.
The Frenchman was superb in the recent win over West Brom, producing two stunning saves in a match where he had little to do.
And he produced a similar performance yesterday, making big saves at important times in the match, and commanding his back line well.
Whilst David De Gea and Thiabut Courtois have got plenty of the plaudits this season, on current form the Tottenham goalkeeper is as good as any in the country.
Spurs have unearthed a superstar in Kane
Anyone who might have previously been unconvinced by the hype surrounding Harry Kane may well have been converted after yesterday’s game.
The cries for the young striker to be selected for England have got deafening following his latest display, in which he showed he can be the man for the big occasion with goal number 21 and 22 of what has been a superb season.
The exciting thing about Kane is the manner in which he can score any type of goal. His first was a typical strikers finish from close range, cleverly anticipating where the ball would drop from a corner and slotting home, whilst the winner was one of the best headed goals you are likely to see this season.
And to top off a perfect 10 days for Spurs, he only signed a new five year deal on deadline day.
Tottenham could just be the fittest side in the league
With Kane’s winner coming in the 80th minute, Tottenham kept up their impressive record of having scored the most goals and collected the most points in the final 10 minutes of matches.
That just goes to show the tough fitness regime instilled by new boss Mauricio Pochettino is paying off, and could well prove decisive from now until the end of the season in terms of who gets that final Champions League spot.
All the momentum at present seems to be with the men from White Hart Lane.
