Tottenham vs. Arsenal

1-2, Premier League, White Hart Lane, 2013-03-03
Mertesacker 51

The possibility of finishing fourth in the league grows ever smaller after this defeat in the North London Derby.

We started the first half as the better team, yet there weren't many goalscoring opportunities in the game. After approximately five minutes Jenkinson provided a great cross that was almost met by Walcott and from the following corner Giroud headed on target, but Lloris made the save. A couple of minutes later Giroud had another chance as he was released onto goal, but unfortunately he failed to get the shot away.
   Through quite some aggressive play in the midfield the game looked to be headed in our favour, when two lapses of concentration meant that we found ourselves two goals down after the first half. In our attempt to play with a high back-four the defence made two fatal errors in trying to keep Bale and Lennon offside, which led to two goals for Tottenham within two minutes.

This was obviously a very harsh position for us to be in, but a situation proving how vital it is to be efficient, both going forward and defending. However, as the second half began we played even better and it did not take much more than five minutes for us to find a way back in the game! Walcott provided a free-kick that was met perfectly by the big fucking German, Per Mertesacker! It was a curling header that found its way past Lloris, through a deflection off Bale.
   Two minutes later Monreal had a powerful shot that went just wide and Jenkinson's cross was almost turned into the back of the net, but the keeper managed to get his hands to it. Tottenham had a couple of decent chances themselves, Bale fired over the bar from a close range and Sigurdsson opted for a pass instead of a shot as the goal opened up for him.
   Podolski was eventually introduced and had a chance immediately, unfortunately his poor touch meant that the ball got too far from him and too close to the keeper. Them Ramsey fired just wide as his shot took a deflection off a defender and Walcott fired wide himself from a free-kick in the final minutes.

This is one of those defeats that are especially hard to accept as we should have gotten more out of it, the way we played. But life is not always fair, and football is most certainly not always fair, so all we can do is keep fighting for that fourth place until the end of the season and see where that takes us.