Never Mind the Gap, There's a Huge Great Chasm Between Tottenham and Arsenal

It was quite the weekend of guard-changing in the capital.

On Saturday evening, in a heavyweight bout for the ages at Wembley Stadium, a left hook from Anthony Joshua that would have uprooted a tree did the same to Wladimir Klitschko.

A day later, in the final north London derby to be played at White Hart Lane, a relentlessly dominant Tottenham Hotspur ensured for the first time in 22 years they will finish the season above Arsenal in the Premier League table.

The two events provided neat bookends. With the bulldozers booked to demolish what has been their home since 1899, Tottenham have confirmed that the national stadium will provide a season-long residency. A new king in boxing may be matched in the Premier League, just so long as Wembley does not cow the cockerel. The 184th meeting between the two clubs could prove seismic.

In any event, St. Totteringham's Day has been cancelled until further notice.

That Arsenal were the ninth opponent in a row brushed aside to ensure Spurs' 17-point lead over their rivals makes them uncatchable with five games to go, made it all the sweeter.

Yet, even as Spurs fans gorged on a gargantuan slice of schadenfreude and the away end distracted themselves by making homemade banners written in their own blood, it somehow felt a much bigger deal for Arsenal than it did Tottenham.

Without St. Totteringham's Day, the Gunners are Linus without his security blanket. Dele Alli hadn't even been born the last time Spurs finished above them. In that fateful campaign of 1994/95, Arsenal had sacked manager George Graham and replaced him with his assistant, Stewart Houston. After a brush with relegation, they eventually finished 12th to Tottenham's seventh.

If nothing else, Charlie Brown should be able to recommend a decent psychiatrist. Those who practice in north London can expect plenty of overtime between now and the season's conclusion.

The "Mind The Gap" T-shirts, banners and chants that have been the sole preserve of Arsenal supporters since 1995 are for one season—at the very least—rendered redundant. Spurs would be just as well letting their neighbours keep the gap rhetoric as an Arsenal thing.

The gap being referred to is the one between the underground trains and the platform edge. Slim, then, like between two front teeth or a hedge, perhaps. Similarly, a gap of just a point has separated the two clubs in three of the past five seasons.

Seventeen points isn't a gap, it's a great big bloody chasm; think Thelma and Louise trying to make it over the Grand Canyon. Many believe giving Gunners manager Arsene Wenger another season or two is not dissimilar. His 50th north London derby may have proved a nightmare, but he has almost certainly set his heart on reaching a century. 

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was right when he said finishing above Arsenal counts for little unless it means finishing first, but when the dust settles over the summer, he might stretch himself to a small smile and a quiet toast to the achievement.

Wenger has pitted himself against 14 Tottenham managers since arriving in England in 1996. Gerry Francis, Christian Gross, George Graham, Glenn Hoddle, Jacques Santini, Martin Jol, Juande Ramos, Harry Redknapp, Andre Villas-Boas, Tim Sherwood and a handful of caretaker managers all failed where Pochettino has succeeded.

The first period on Sunday felt subdued, a slow puncture of a game. After Chelsea had earlier in the day made light of an Everton side that was supposed to provide the trickiest test in their run-in, there seemed to be a film of anticlimax stifling the air on a balmy afternoon in the capital.

The manner of Chelsea manager Antonio Conte's celebration at Goodison Park—jumping on to the back of Thibaut Courtois in front of a rapturous away end at full-time was a particular highlight—suggested the infectiously exuberant Italian thinks a four-point lead, in conjunction with what looks a straightforward run-in, should be enough.

In all likelihood, it will. Spurs, though, are still playing as a side that believes Chelsea can be caught. They have eclipsed their best Premier League points tally by seven already, with 12 still to play for. Only once in the last 10 years has 89 points not been enough. However good Chelsea are, Tottenham could yet take it to the wire. 

Alli and Christian Eriksen were both guilty of profligacy that has proved uncharacteristic this season in the first 45 minutes. A far-post header far simpler than several Alli has successfully finished this term was steered wide under pressure from the willing but positionally-suspect-at-wing-back Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Eriksen then grazed the crossbar via a cushioned volley with the goal gaping. From a superior technician like him, it was like watching a master craftsman struggling to fit a skirting board.

It seemed fitting that the poster boys for Pochettino's viscerally thrilling and expertly engineered project did the damage against the old enemy after the interval.

Alli's opener 10 minutes in was followed by a Harry Kane penalty as emphatic as it was contentious, just 146 seconds later. The pair have now scored 38 goals between them, to make them the most prolific English double act since Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand scored 42 for Newcastle United in 1996/97. It's another chance for a record, albeit one not quite as well-documented.

Less ubiquitous than in recent games, but ultimately no less effective, Alli's willingness to burst from deep to make endless runs into the opposition box was rewarded after some brilliant approach work from Eriksen.

Arsenal dealt with a long throw-in exactly as one would expect Arsenal to deal with a long throw-in, leaving the Dane to pick up possession in the area. Despite having zero space to play with, he worked a yard to get a shot away in a manner that suggested he could probably solve a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle in his pocket. Alli stabbed in the rebound from Petr Cech's save.

When the myriad Arsenal players in the box at the time have a minute to watch the replay over, they'll probably think about reacting. Oxlade-Chamberlain's attempt to stop it on the line with his right foot instead of his left, was the equivalent of trying to write with toes instead of fingers.

The home crowd were still celebrating when Kane ran at Gabriel in the penalty area. On a weekend when Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford was also accused of employing the dark arts in winning a penalty, it's fair to say Kane made sure his planted leg made contact with Gabriel's. Still the Brazilian could have got out of the way, and he didn't.

Spurs' main man will probably still get a pass into striker heaven, especially after he dispatched the spot-kick as unerringly close to the corner of the goal as humanly possible. It may just have been the perfect penalty. Cech was right to not bother diving. He could have been touching his post when Kane ran up and still not saved it. 

It marked the fifth game in succession Kane has scored in a north London derby, the first player to do so. His overall record against capital clubs is a remarkable 19 goals in 26 matches. Given referee Michael Oliver did not award Spurs a stonewall spot-kick when Alexis Sanchez handled in the area, complaints about the one he did give sound a little hollow.

Tellingly, the one player Spurs would probably want from Arsenal's starting XI is the one who will probably look to leave in the summer. Sanchez would almost certainly rather be walking his dogs on a Thursday evening than playing in the Europa League. In fairness, who wouldn't? 

With over half an hour to go, Arsenal still had time to forge their way back into the contest but never looked remotely like doing so. Even though not at their best, Spurs were still too strong for their insipid visitors. Save for dealing with a few shots straight at him, Hugo Lloris could have spent the duration of the game writing poetry or flicking through holiday brochures (Arsenal's players probably brought plenty for him to borrow).

Conversely, were it not for Cech's heroics thereafter at the other end, with Spurs raining in 20 shots over the course of the afternoon, the home side would have tipped one of the bleakest days of Wenger's career into a well of darkness. Arsenal's goalkeeper had made nine saves by the end. Winning by four or five would not have overly flattered Spurs. And they weren't even that good.

Playing at a home ground that traps opponents in like skintight jeans, Tottenham are formidable. Any unflattering bits are immediately exposed by a side as athletic as it is tactically astute. The last time Spurs dropped points at White Hart Lane was on October 29, in a 1-1 draw with Leicester City. Just four points have been relinquished at home all season. Only Juventus across Europe's top five leagues can boast a better record. It's a shame they're moving.

The vast expanse of Wembley will prove a welcome relief for visitors next term, after being penned in at White Hart Lane all these years. Spurs' dismal performance in Europe there this season is cause for obvious concern.

Ever pragmatic, when asked if would like his team to keep playing at White Hart Lane while building work is being done on the new stadium, Pochettino chided in a manner reminiscent of his compatriot Che Guevara (h/t the Telegraph): "The evolution cannot stop." He'll be wearing a beret next.

Pochettino's team looks to ask questions of opposition from the first minute to the last. Kane forced Cech into a save before a minute had been played, while a buccaneering Ben Davies from left-back was threatening to weave his way through Arsenal's back line in stoppage time.

Arsenal's 3-4-3 formation (or 3-4-2-1, if you prefer) erred from shapeless to shambolic from the moment Spurs took the lead. If formations were advertised on the back of football magazines, Wenger's three at the back would be the flabby before shot, with Conte's the accompanying buff after shot.  

There are, of course, different ways of losing. At 41, Klitschko is not the fighter he once was, but he's no less the warrior. To get up as he did in the penultimate round against Joshua, after twice tasting canvas, earned him as much respect from a partisan London crowd as it did his younger opponent.

Per The Independent, Wenger described his side's toe-curling 10-2 defeat over two legs to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League in March as being like, "a boxer who got put on the floor twice." Even when bravery betrays common sense, boxers who are taking a pounding can usually count on a referee or corner man to intervene. Steve Bould is more yes man than corner man, while banners don't hold half the currency of a white towel being thrown.

No one with any real power is telling Wenger that enough is enough.

Jose Mourinho will almost certainly be pointedly playing Klitschko's display of gallantry on a loop to his Manchester United players this week. He's probably texted it to Luke Shaw already, replete with a fist emoji. 

Wenger would be well-advised to do likewise. He won't. Arsenal's beleaguered boss has even less fight left in him than his charges. That is quite something, considering his side barely laid a glove on their opponents. Tottenham's players may need glasses to shield themselves from the fulgent glare that will come with rewriting history, but they won't be required to hide any scratches or bruises.

It was telling that in their post-match interview with Sky Sports, both Kane and Jan Vertonghen, unprompted, spoke of wanting to win their game more than their opponents. It might have come across as a little conceited were it not so flagrantly true.

With a shrug, Vertonghen said, per Sky Sports (via Evening Standard): "We showed from the start we wanted to win more than them, and that we want to stay in the title race."

To play three at the back successfully, you need the five in midfield to graft tirelessly. Arsenal pressed with vigour for the first 15 minutes or so to relative success, forcing Spurs into errors, and then pretty much stopped. Hard work is pressing. 

The immaculate gilded tractor that is Victor Wanyama could have bossed the midfield on his own on Sunday. In the early sparring, the human metronome Mousa Dembele was missed as Spurs struggled for rhythm, but thereafter, the Kenya international grew into the game before taking it over. Southampton have let some brilliant players leave over the years, but Wanyama is one of the best.

Mesut Ozil needs a sit-down just watching Heung-Min Son. Stick a kinetic battery on his back and he could power north London for a week with the miles he puts in.

Showing that tactical awareness previously alluded to, the South Korea international pulled wide all afternoon even though his natural inclination is to drift infield. He knew he had the beating of Oxlade-Chamberlain, so he did so relentlessly. Over 90 minutes, he effectively retired the England man's fledgling career as a wing-back—or at least he should have. Wenger may disagree.

Both Wanyama and Son are much better players than when they arrived at Tottenham. It's hard to think of a player who has regressed under Pochettino. Can the same be said for Wenger?

Ozil, for one, remains the most divisive player in the Premier League. At times, his levels of inertia on Sunday were borderline performance art. It wouldn't have been a surprise had the cameras panned on the German to find him texting or scrolling through his Instagram account. It's fair to say his heat map was lukewarm.

Stick him in the Tate Modern as part of a Tracey Emin exhibition, and gallery-goers would likely be split between those convinced they were in the presence of genius and those more inclined to think it was nothing more than an elaborate mockery.

One suspects the Spurs supporter who had to be removed by stewards, after he had worked himself into a frankly terrifying rabid rage at Ozil for nudging the ball a few centimetres outside of the corner-flag quadrant, probably isn't a fan of the modern stuff. In that kind of mood, I'd rather have taken on Joshua. Mate, there's people to speak to. 

Lee Dixon on co-commentary duty for American broadcaster NBC appeared to be caught between the two poles of thought. "If I had him (Ozil) in front of me," he started tetchily, as though building into a diatribe, before—after a significant pause—adding, "I don't know what I'd do. Bless him."

Whether it was the miserableness of the occasion or a persona he has adopted for a U.S. audience, all afternoon he made Mark Lawrenson sound like a beacon of sunshine. Cheer up Lee, it's already happened. It seems a season's worth of Granit Xhaka can break a man.

Gloominess seemed to be contagious. Over on Sky Sports, Martin Tyler was moved to ask co-commentator Alan Smith about the "terminal injury" he had suffered as a player at White Hart Lane. It would have taken an even bigger miracle for Arsenal to resurrect themselves after going behind.

It's now five defeats from the last six fixtures away from the Emirates Stadium, with 15 goals conceded in that time. They are everything Spurs are not. No shape, no passion, no identity, no heart and no soul. Arsenal win when they play well and lose when they don't. That's nowhere near good enough at the top end of the table. 

That "Arsene Wenger, we want you to stay" is now a cruel chant, where once it would have been sung when Barcelona or Paris Saint-Germain routinely came sniffing, says it all. It's become the sad soundtrack to the autumn years of a brilliant man who deserves better but is too married to the game to accept there are worse things in life than a good book and even better wine.

As Wenger has repeatedly been at pains to point out, one swallow doesn't make a summer after over two decades of his side's pre-eminence in north London. Still, having overseen six matches without a victory for the first time in the fixture's history, it's hardly hopping into bed with the fickle fads of fashion to suggest there has been a power shift.

Mind the gap, it's huge.