Jurrien Timber’s tackle on Pedro Porro sparked a melee in the first half of the North London derby
Whilst Pedro Porro has proven to be a solid full-back in the Premier League ever since his arrival at Tottenham Hotspur, he received criticism from pundits for one incident during Sunday’s North London derby.
Tottenham delivered a disappointing display on Sunday as Arsenal recorded a 1-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, thanks to a second-half header from Gabriel Magalhaes. Ange Postecoglou watched his side struggle to create many chances against a Gunners side who were without two key players in Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.
In the first half alone, there weren’t many talking points, even though the scoreline was 0-0 with seven players in total getting booked by referee Jarred Gillet. Both Tottenham and Arsenal players received bookings for late challenges, shirt pulls and shoving, but there was one incident involving Pedro Porro that led to a melee.
-> Tottenham Hotspur confirmed signings, transfers in, out, loan exits, releases for 2024/25
Jurrien Timber was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Porro when contesting for a ground ball, with the Arsenal defender making a slight contact, but not planting his foot or making a follow-through. Timber’s challenge on the Spurs right-back sparked a brawl midway through the first half, resulting in goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario getting booked for confronting the Arsenal man.
Ex-Tottenham scout Bryan King has slammed Porro for his silly antics following Timber’s challenge, creating an unnecessary situation that didn’t help the home side in the game.
“We had a silly little period where Porro went down under a challenge from Timber,” Bryan King said in an exclusive interview with Tottenham News.
“It wasn’t as bad as he made it look. However, that led to a situation where Vicario suddenly gets involved and picks up a yellow card.
“That was totally unnecessary, it wasn’t a leg-breaking tackle. It is hard enough playing and getting the team going without those silly little incidents.
“They always say if it is a serious injury you wouldn’t move, Porro didn’t keep still for about three or four minutes.
“Timber might have caught him slightly. However, it didn’t deserve the reaction we saw from him, you would have thought he had broken his ankle.
“Vicario should have never been involved in that either, what is he doing looking for trouble?
“Unnecessary, worry about your football and team performance, those things aren’t going to help.”
Porro continues to be a reliable player for Tottenham but his antics of going down after Timber’s studs had just brushed his ankle was unnecessary on Sunday. His over-the-top reaction led to a brawl and resulted in Spurs losing the momentum.
Situations or incidents like these go a long way in changing the complexion of the game and it did for Big Ange’s side as we lost a bit of rhythm and control after the skirmish. Porro is now an experienced player and a lot of maturity is expected from him and the rest of the group, especially in a derby fixture.
-> Tottenham’s 5 best PL opening day wins
Eventually, we lost the game as pressure piled more on our gaffer, with Spurs having picked up just four points from a possible 12. Big Ange will be expecting a rousing response from his boys when Spurs take on Coventry City in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
