![]() ![]() There was something about the energy generated by this Arsenal team which set the atmosphere apart from previous generations here. The Emirates resounded with a chant once heard here regularly: ‘We are top of the league!’ as old friends Kane and Dier had a heated debate over who precisely was to blame. Harry Kane became the leading goalscorer in London derbies with a well-taken penalty There are things to improve and that’s the direction we’re going.’ We know where we are, we have done nothing yet. But we are a really hungry and humble team, believe me. ‘Looking at the table, it’s great, obviously. ‘I leave that to you guys, we’re just at the start,’ he said. Top of the league they may be, but Arteta, an alumni of Manchester City, won’t be drawn into the game of whether his team are title contenders. They don’t do that enough against top quality teams and asked if this sent a message, Arteta was adamant: ‘For me the message is for the players and for everybody at the club that we are able to play at this level against these kind of opponents and that should give them confidence and belief.’ Yet it's Arsenal who are top today,Īrsenal who showed resolution through to conclusion. Conte looked about to do what Conte does to dreamers. Wreaking revenge of Brentford two weeks ago was one thing, but a little like the over privileged class bully picking on a poorer, weaker boy. Same old Arsenal.Īnd so this was a genuine test. Kane, inevitably, from the spot after Richarlison had slipped past Granit Xhaka and been tripped by Gabriel. And yet, here we were at half time, Tottenham with just 36 per cent of the possession and the score at 1-1. The Emirates shook with fervour and it’s not often you can write that. The excellent Thomas Partey’s opening strike from twenty yards on twenty minutes was truly something special. That was the trap Conte was laying for them: you enjoy the pretty football and we’ll take the points.Īnd so the match seemed to settle into that pattern. The offside flag came to their rescue but for a team with 64 per cent possession, they looked mighty fragile. For all the hustle and bustle of Arsenal’s truly impressive start, there was a moment when Cristian Romero picked out Harry Kane with a 50 yard pass and Arsenal looked terribly frail. And you knew exactly how Conte would play it. This was the first time for years that these teams had met when both were riding high and among the best in the country. He had them unbeaten this season, looking as much like a title contender as you can when Manchester City have Erling Haaland. ![]() Serie A titles, a Premier League title, the FA Cup: he has them all. He has nothing really to prove other than the endless desire to prove himself again that afflicts all successful obsessives. And it wouldn’t be the romantic Basque coach nurtured at Barcelona.Ĭonte is cut from different cloth. In the same way that children make fantastical comparisons, demanding to know which animal would win if a shark fought a lion, so you felt that if Arteta takes on Antonio Conte, there could be only one victor. ![]()
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