Islington Sports - It took an act of God for Spurs to win the derby
Published: 23 April, 2010
The CROW
by RICHARD OSLEY
AND so it came to pass. Just as the unthinkable apocalypse written in the ancient texts grimly predicted: if Tottenham are victorious in a north London derby, the great volcano will violently erupt and the sky will be filled with cloudy ash.
No sooner had Spurs beaten Arsenal, the deed was done. Planes were grounded.
You think that kind of thing is a coincidence? With an event as rare as this, no wonder the airlines are saying this was an Act of God as they repel insurance claims. The assessors should point to the unworldy chain of events: volcano spews, Liberal Democrats first in the opinion polls, Adrian Chiles gets a £6million (£6 million!?!) GMTV (GMTV!?!) deal... And Spurs somehow beat Arsenal.
Yet despite all of this, the Gunners worst moment of the week was not losing to the old rivals. The 10-minute capitulation at Wigan on Sunday was more astonishing than all those astonishing things above. Never has a team with a whiff of winning the title committed such a boo boo. Arsene Wenger’s genius comes with stubbornness. The more people scream for him to buy a new goalkeeper, the more he says he won’t. Manuel Almunia should have caught the corner that Danny Rose thwacked back past him at Spurs. Lukasz Fabianski should be able to catch, full stop. It might take an act of God for Wenger to see things that way.
The WROE
by PIP WROE
WHAT a glorious week it’s been. The Caprice poster has gone and now Gareth Bale dominates my wall as he has dominated right backs for months on end.
Of course, I could wallpaper the whole room with posters of outstanding Spurs players this week. I think I’ll carpet the floors with the emblems of Arsenal and Chelsea so I can wear them down and dance around them as Spurs did this week, perhaps I’ll even make-up a Danny Rose lampshade and some Heurelho Gomes curtains that block everything. The resulting room may be a bit garish but, hey, it’s a celebration.
Heroic performances from Luka Modric, Tom Huddlestone, Michael Dawson and Gomes point towards a strong spine and an excellent future, and hopefully, if justice prevails, will result in Dawson getting on the plane to South Africa this summer (or maybe a very overcrowded minibus).
The joy was sweetened only by the fantastic demise of our neighbours on Sunday, failing even to pick up the scraps from our feast of flowing football, instead concocting a delicious crumble, almost as good as my mum’s.
After such a week the race for fourth is well and truly on. The dream can be realised, the time has come for the Arsenal to straighten out and actually win a game. Same again next week please.