Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 1 Arsenal: Believe in What You Want

0 - 1 Mesut Özil 11'
1 - 1 Harry Kane 56'
2 - 1 Harry Kane 86'

Arsenal went to White Hart Lane today looking to hold their position in the Barclays Premier League table above Tottenham Hotspur, but the latter pressed very well, kept Arsenal mostly at bay, and in the end, found two second-half goals to come from behind and take all three points today.

From the start, Arsenal looked to defend deep and forage on the counterattack as they had at Manchester City two weeks ago. Spurs, however, pressed much more effectively than City had in the midfield, Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason doing good work in combination with off days from Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla. Early efforts from Harry Kane went wide as Danny Rose worked well in attack up the left, but then Arsenal found that space behind Rose. Danny Welbeck ghosted past the latter and crossed for Olivier Giroud, whose mishit landed for Mesut Özil to volley past Hugo Lloris. Against the run of play, Arsenal had found an opener.

The game, though, didn't change much after that--the importance of the opening goal in away ties is a truth that had no purchase today, sadly--and Spurs continued to pile forward while Arsenal struggled to get out of their half.

The second half continued in the same way, and Spurs finally made their pressure tell, as from a corner, David Ospina could only push the ball back into the path of an unmarked Harry Kane, who slotted home to equalize. Ospina's initial save from the first header was nice, but he could have done more to steer it wide, and the three Arsenal players who pushed out and left Kane alone at the far post maybe could have not done that, either.

Spurs kept on as before for the next 20 minutes, but Arsenal slowly started to find a little possession after the introduction of Tomas Rosicky for Santi Cazorla. Spurs hadn't gone away, though, and in the 86th minute, Bentaleb, under no pressure from Arsenal whatsoever, floated in a cross right onto Kane's head, and the latter looped his header over Ospina into the far corner. Arsenal had a couple of opportunities in the dying moments to find a late goal to earn a point but could not capitalize.

It's a painful loss to an archrival today, and Spurs under Mauricio Pochettino look pretty gnarly. Still, there are 14 matches left in the season, and Spurs have a 1-point advantage and are significantly behind on goal difference, so there is no need to panic.

This still sucks, though. Oh well. Everyone go out and do something you love to do today and try to forget.