Our winning streak had to stop, eventually. It did, at the Hive, where we almost lost our invincibility. That would have been unbearable!
Vivianne Miedema’s late, late header rescued a point for Jonas Eidevall’s team, which deserved much better but almost lost the first North London Derby in the league.
We had the chances, we didn’t take them. There was a factor of bad luck and the performance of a lifetime from the Spurs’ keeper but we should have won the game so it’s difficult to digest.
I guess we should be happy with the point we got but it’s very difficult to consider the result nothing else but two points dropped. If Chelsea defeats Manchester City, they will close the gap to one point, while the draw means that we couldn’t really open a gap with the rest of the teams below Chelsea.
We didn’t play badly as such, we were quite dominant and didn’t concede much, except for the period shortly after Spurs’ opener, but we couldn’t find the killer pass, we couldn’t apply the final touch in front of goal and we paid the price for being wasteful at both ends of the pitch.
The goal we conceded could be branded comical, if it weren’t for the fact that it almost cost us the game in a North London Derby, so there’s not much to laugh about.
A draw away at Tottenham isn’t as bad as it would have been a couple of years ago, or even last season, because the team has grown since Skinner took over but we should have won the game, regardless. We created enough despite their application, dedication and impressive defensive organization, so it really is a matter or taking our chances.
We could have used a bit more aggression and spark from the players that came on who, surprisingly enough, didn’t have much of an impact on the game despite their qualities, in terms of skills and leadership.
For the first time, Jonas Eidevall wasn’t able to give his team a bit of impetus with his substitutions nor could he find the tactical tweak to change the dynamics of the game. I am more surprised than disappointed, because it is the first time I cannot see his touch, after some very impressive choices and decisions. I feel that the team could have used Mana Iwabuchi’s off-the-ball movement and dribbling qualities a bit sooner, maybe, but that’s as far as I can go with my pointing at the coach choices.
It’s time to move on and focus on the upcoming Champions League game against HB Koge at home, next Wednesday, before starting to think about another difficult away game, at Manchester United.
Time will tell if this draw against Sp*rs was a blip of the start of a more difficult moment, after what has been a sensational start of the season.
Is the November curse affecting the women’s team, too? I hope not!
Italian living in Switzerland, Gooner since mid-nineties, when the Gunners defeated my hometown team, in Copenhagen. I started my own blog and podcast (www.clockenditalia.com) after after some experiences with Italian websites and football magazines. Covering Arsenal Women with the occasional rant about the boys.
Ref who was poor, let them(spuds) get away with one hell of a lot of rotational fouling which should have been punished a lot earlier & more frequently.On top of that mostly parked the bus with two banks of four & not taking earlier chances played onto their hands & a sucker punch was always on the cards if that happens.Hopefully lessons learned.
Ref was really poor, indeed. I hope the standards will improve together with the quality of the league. I guess this was a very welcome wake-up call for the team, a bit like Barcelona in Europe, and will keep everyone on their toes.