Tottenham 2-2 Man City (Solanke 53’, 70’ | Cherki 11’, Semenyo 44’)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – The term “gallows humour” has been described by psychologists as a last indicator of morale amongst oppressed peoples. So who could have blamed Tottenham Hotspur fans for indulging in a little self-deprecation if it might have stopped Arsenal winning the title?
All week it had been suggested that Spurs supporters were willing their own team to lose to Manchester City. Instead, they provided the chorus to a remarkable fightback from two goals down and showed what happens when they are finally given something to get behind.
Before kick-off, stadium announcer Paul Coyte issued a rallying cry against “all those people who think we want to lose”. In the first half, it looked like they had no choice in the matter – this was not so much a moral abstention as a team being totally outplayed as they spiralled deeper into the jaws of a relegation battle.
Even Thomas Frank’s most ardent critics would have been hard-pushed to argue that such domination by Pep Guardiola’s City ought to be a sackable offence. Yet the manner of supine Spurs’ initial self-implosion hinted it might be, Yves Bissouma conceding possession in the build-up to Rayan Cherki’s opener and Guglielmo Vicario once again facing questions over his positioning.
As Radu Dragusin’s botched clearance allowed Antoine Semenyo to score his fourth in five games since joining City, it will have been no consolation that Frank insisted that his own club had “tried” to sign the forward themselves.
So for 45 minutes, there was every reason for the ground to feel submerged in apathy. As the rain poured, it was as if Frank was trying to shout underwater. He said this week that he was operating in real life, “not Football Manager”; at points it had looked like one player had put their controller down.
With Dominic Solanke’s second-half brace, something shifted. In the scheme of Frank’s turbulent reign, these moments might ultimately not mean that much. But in a season like this, they are a rushing lifeblood. Spurs fans merely entertained the prospect of deflating Arsenal’s dreams because they have ceased to harbour any of their own.
It is a gross mischaracterisation nonetheless, the idea that there was not anger, elation and desperation in equal measure on show. The half-time boos are so regular that they have almost stopped having any effect, but what followed should be a lesson for Frank and his cautious pragmatism.
Solanke blew it away with two moments of brilliance, outmuscling Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi for his first before pulling out an outrageous flick for the second. Frank has to engineer this siege mentality more regularly to save his job, particularly as he makes do without nine senior players. Cristian Romero did not last the 90 minutes.
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Tottenham fans have endured an awful lot, not least another underwhelming transfer window. And still their spitting savagery directed at Xavi Simons’ early misjudgements transformed to ecstasy at his superb late runs. The vast majority remained in the ground to applaud their team off and start talk of a late Solanke charge for England’s World Cup squad.
If you were being ungenerous, you might think this was peak, Arsenal-cup-wielding Frank, bursting to life when the fans least wanted him to. But that would be just another dose of humour in this peculiar, puzzling campaign.
Joy is back in fashion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – and the roar was so loud it could probably be heard in the other half of north London.
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