TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — They have probably forgiven Harry Kane now, on reflection.
One of their own temporarily appeared to be about to become one of them last summer, a clear indication that Kane wished to leave, presumably to join Manchester City.
Maybe he’d have become their hero too. Maybe he would have revelled in the trophies. Maybe he would have entered another level of footballing superstardom. But surely it would never quite have felt like this.
“One of our own,” they sang again in the South stand after Kane’s second goal, the direct result of man who is just incredibly good at being in the right place at the right time for what his team needs. Link the play and drop deep? Fine, boss. Drift out wide to create an overlap? Whatever you want. Score 180 Premier League goals of a ludicrously wide variety over eight seasons? Goes without saying.
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Thursday night was only partly about the Champions League for Tottenham Hotspur. Of course that was the ultimate aim, to extend their chances of finishing above Arsenal for the sixth season in a row and in doing so punish their north London neighbours. It was that that made this the most exciting North London Derby in years.
But Spurs needed to prove something to themselves too; maybe even to Conte. For all the improvement over the last few months, seemingly taking Conte away from the point of emotional and literal resignation, he needed another night on which to hang his hat. The last one, a 3-2 win at City, came amid chaos rather than control and was succeeded by a horrible defeat away to Burnley.
And boy did they get it. Much of the focus will understandably be on the self-inflicted nature of Arsenal’s despondency, but Tottenham identified, provoked and then exploited the frailties in Arsenal’s team and their psychology. Having done so, they made sure to cause as much pain as possible. Arteta’s side either backed off Son Heung-min or fouled him and left Kane too much space. There are few more obvious ways of causing yourself pain against Tottenham.
The defining moment was not a goal but the brainlessness of Rob Holding. There will be a confected outrage about refereeing decisions because that is football now, but the only debate is whether Arsenal’s supposedly senior central defender should have received a second yellow card or straight red. The pair clashed several times, the biggest Holding-Son ruckus since Michael Jackson dangled his child off a balcony.
Seventy-five minutes before kick off, White Hart Lane fizzed with nervous energy as hundreds of Tottenham supporters congregated. Some sat on shoulders or held their arms aloft; most simply stood. There were chants, sung not with beery happiness but with an edge, as if they were a mantra to wish the fear away. No smiles, no joyous embraces, just the stern looks of those who have thought about nothing else all week and now it’s here. With occasional blue and white flares lit and music spilling out of a nearby beer garden, it was like Notting Hill Carnival mixed with A-level results morning.
Other than the pandemic-affected year of 2020, this was the latest in the season calendar these two sides have ever met. It is also very rarely an evening league fixture, at least since the rise of Super Sunday television culture. Those things combined to give the game an extra frisson – that it hardly needed. Grudge match in the creeping shadows and then fading light is somehow remindful of watching European finals as a child.
The first derby with supporters in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – and my goodness did it sound good. The architects Populous deliberately placed all the corporate and VIP areas into the two sides of the ground, leaving the North and South stands as two blocks of loyal Tottenham supporters. It works – the noise seems to pour down onto the pitch.
Tottenham are not in the Champions League yet. It is not even in their own hands. But such were the psychological punches of the first half, littered with a dozen foolish choices and dim decisions, that Arsenal will do mighty well to immediately recover as they must. If Mikel Arteta is able to rally them to beat Newcastle and Everton, he will have earned his top-four place.
And even if it leads to naught for Tottenham, they will always remember this night. When they met together on the streets in the sunshine full of nervousness and fear and were able to spend the last 40 minutes of the match taunting the away end, ole-ing passes and running through the playlist of their heroes’ chants.
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