When the ball eventually dropped out of the night sky, the unlikely figure of Mathieu Flamini was lurking unmarked on the edge of Tottenham’s penalty area.
What happened next was a once in a lifetime moment for Arsenal’s midfield enforcer, a meteor strike that flew into the back of Michel Vorm’s net in the 78th minute. Flamini was on fire here.
Predictably it sent Arsenal’s 3,000 travelling supporters into raptures, baying for Flamini to acknowledge them as he celebrated his second, remarkable goal of this captivating third round tie.
By the end he was bare-chested, throwing his shirt in to the crowd and thumping his heart after his two, improbable strikes settled this north London derby.
This was his first appearance for Arsenal this season, returning to the team as Arsene Wenger set out to avert a potential mini-crisis by losing a third successive game. Flamini was on fire here.
The guy was everywhere, getting his hands dirty with the tackles that matter in the centre of the park and then popping up to score in each half. As Thierry Henry declared after the game, this guy cares.
This was Flamini’s night, scoring the first double of his entire professional career and netting for the first time in a north London derby.
It was enough to put Tottenham away, no matter how gallant their fightback after Calum Chambers had scored an own goal for the second successive.
There is no other club in world football who can take one step forward and take two giant leaps back as regularly as Tottenham. Now Mauricio Pochettino must build momentum again.
Flamini’s opening goal was well-taken, reacting first after Vorm spilled Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s powerful long range effort right into his path.
The Arsenal midfielder turned poacher, skilfully lifting the ball over Vorm and turning to celebrate his first goal in a north London derby in front of the Tottenham
fans in the Paxton Lane stand.
It was an important strike, the type to settle down a team after successive defeats against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and the rancorous loss against Chelsea on Saturday. A third felt unthinkable.
Tottenham were screaming out for someone to match the energy and enthusiasm of Flamini, a first team player who could take the game by the scruff of the neck and starting it about a bit.
Without a match-winner, they looked ordinary at times.
The talismanic figure of Heung-Min Son, who has scored three times since his move to White Hart Lane, was left on the bench until the 67th minute. It had only a matter of time before Pochettino turned to him.
Poor Harry Kane is suffering out there, his thinking muddled after failing to match the expectation that follows a season when he scored 21 times in the Barclays Premier League
culled from daily mail
Comments
Post a Comment