Spurs Rose To the Occasion

Who knows what to expect when you are a Spurs fan? Seemingly lacking imagination and desire one day and brimming with it the next! Last night at White Hart Lane, the Spurs put in a terrific battling performance to keep their season alive and to end Arsenal's hopes of winning the Premier League Title. Objective achieved with a bonus that Le Gunners season is spoiled too. What a sweet night !

The game was all action right from the start with Arsenal having most of the possession and looking dominant, but without creating much.  It was very similar to the Spurs dominance over Portsmouth on Sunday with no penetration, but tidy and even pretty at times. The difference being that in this game the Spurs had the benefit of a wonderful early goal against the run of play from debutant Danny Rose. It was a wonderful strike which should get Spurs' goal of the season, with a goal against Arsenal , for the second season in a row. David Bentley scored a cracker last year in the 4 -4 draw. This one prompted a rare compliment from Andy Gray to Spurs.  He said ' tick a boo son, tick a boo '. Translated into English I believe it means ' take a bow '. 

Arsenal did have the lion's share of possession throughout, but without troubling Gomes for the most part.  King and Dawson were immense for Tottenham while Bale and Modric were everywhere trying to nick possession back.  I was pleased to see SuperPav in for Crouch because it makes for a more cohesive way of playing. The banging it at our Beanpole early does nothing for me and the whole approach to the game is much more attractive. 

When Spurs suckered the Arsenal defence two minutes after half time, the Spurs' fans dared to dream. Bale tucking a Defoe defence splitting ball into the bottom corner like he does it every week. How he deserved it.  He has been fantastic in recent weeks and last night was no exception.

Arsenal had no answer until they threw on Van Persie with 25 minutes to go.  For somebody that had not played for five months he was excellent and provided an immediate threat that wasn't there before. 

He made Gomes work several times for the first time in the match and cut Spurs open for a goal which Bendtner tapped home with five minutes to go. This made for a nervous last few moments but thankfully the Spurs fans had something to cheer within a few short days of the pain of Wembley.

Now Tottenham can look forward to another massive game on Saturday against Chelsea with confidence. Spurs beat them at White Hart Lane last season and there is no reason why they can't again. The season is in their own hands as they play everybody above them.  Only a fortnight ago the pundits were predicting Spurs would lose the lot and Liverpool would finish fourth. Wouldn't it be great if Spurs won the lot instead ?