Tottenham star Dele Alli has boldly admitted that he did not follow into the box when Harry Kane took the penalty against Arsenal, as opposed to the usual routine of running into the box expecting a rebound.
Cech’s record when it comes to saving penalties isn’t anywhere near being impressive and at the same time, Harry Kane’s penalty scoring record is mighty impressive too. This has probably given Alli some real confidence when Kane lined up to take the penalty that eventually killed the game.
The derby was an all-important one considering the table positions of the two clubs and the game did not disappoint. It was entertaining and finished in Tottenham’s favour. The win ensured that Tottenham would finish above Arsenal for the first time since 1995.
This is also the first time that Arsene Wenger would be finishing below Tottenham Hotspur in his Arsenal career. The win marked the dawn of some new dominance within North London and it certainly marks a shift in power.
Dele Alli seems to have complete confidence in Harry Kane’s ability and was quoted by Football London as saying,
“I don’t want to jinx him but I almost didn’t bother following in, although you have to, of course! He’s an incredible player and he deserves a lot of credit. It was a great finish again.”
Alli himself scored on the day, when he opened the scoring after some deft play with Eriksen within the box that saw Arsenal defenders schooled the Tottenham duo’s incredible chemistry. He added:
“It was unbelievable, a crazy atmosphere and to win the last derby at White Hart Lane was incredible. We owe a lot to the fans again, they were unbelievable from the start, kept us going and that was important. There weren’t too many tactics going into today, it was all about belief, fight and hunger and I think we dominated on that front.”
It is a great achievement by Spurs to have finished above Arsenal after all these years. Now that the focus in the past two seasons has completely shifted towards winning the title, it should remain intact and Arsenal should be a secondary target. That would mark some real progress!
