didn’t do ’em any good.
ARSEnal might as well have been honest that they were scared to play the original fixture and face the forfeit, which would have been the same 3-0 result, instead of pretending they had a Covid problem.
I was a bit apprehensive before the match when it was announced who the ref and VAR official were, worries were not helped when the team sheet came out and Sanchez was there instead of Romero.
To begin with it looked like those worries were spot on. Sanchez was fannying about at the back, passing the ball back to Hugo repeatedly, getting closer and closer to putting it into his own net, or gifting a chance by putting Lloris under pressure.
Meanwhile the Dopey Dwarf with the whistle was letting the Woolwich player Holding foul Son repeatedly, without any card being shown. While Davies was carded for questioning a decision, Holding was shown nothing for kicking Son in the ribs, while he was on the floor after yet another foul.
What followed was also shocking from Tierney. Giving a penalty against the Wanderers for an actual foul. An excellent cross from Kulusevski, Son was coming in at the back post when the Runner Gunner defender charged him in the back. It’s a foul, it always has been in the game , no matter what the likes of Monkey man Keown cry. It’s just it’s been overlooked by refs over the last couple of decades.
The telly showed where Kane had put his pens this season, their keeper went that way, Kane went the other.
It came as a shock, a few minutes later, when Holding finally got a yellow. This could have seen him off, in fact he should have been off by now. Seven minutes later, as the shocks kept on coming, he was. Thuggish challenge on Son again and shown his second yellow. Even Martin Tyler, through tears, couldn’t argue with the pen or red card.
Four minutes later and Tyler was nearly having a full breakdown. A corner from Son and no one is marking Kane. No one. I mean who doesn’t mark Kane from a corner, but yeah Arteta have a moan about the officials. From Bentancur’s nod on Kane stoops and knocks it in at the back post. He just knew.
Just wonder what Arteta’s half-time talk was. I’m guessing it wasn’t… open up like the Red Sea and let a third in after a couple of minutes. Sanchez with a cracking ball through to Kane in the box, he was pulled down but the ball broke to Son who banged it home for his 21st goal of the season.
From there Spurs just played the ball around as the visitors had packed it in even before their fans had exited the stadium. As Conte said, he didn’t moan about Fabinho, but Arteta likes to moan a lot. Making alibis for his players who played like idiots, getting sent off, giving away stupid penalties, not marking Kane at a corner and just giving up before half-time.
It’s a shame Spurs didn’t really go for the throat. Conte signalled his intentions when bringing the dismayed Son off. Not a happy bunny on the bench. But if they’d had forfeited that original game they would have faced a 3-0 loss, not had players suspended or injured for the final two games which of course after Arteta moaned about the fixture list they get an extra day and half to recover after the game. Spurs playing Sunday at midday, while they play Monday at 8.
The crowd were rocking – what happens when you don’t play Barry bloody Manilow before kick-off and it got even better with the moaning and whinging from the likes of Arteta and Keown – who I believe can still peel a banana with his feet.