Sun 14 March 2021, 21:30
Tottenham HotspurJose Mourinho was left frustrated at our first half display as we lost Sunday’s derby at the Emirates.
Arsenal took control of the Premier League encounter in that first period but, despite their dominance, we managed to get ahead thanks to Erik Lamela’s superb ‘rabona’ finish on 33 minutes, the Argentine introduced off the bench early following an injury to Heung-Min Son.
The home side struck the woodwork twice in the first half, but fortune went against us as they levelled just before half-time, Martin Odegaard’s effort clipped off Toby Alderweireld and beyond Hugo Lloris.
Arsenal were awarded a penalty on 64 minutes, dispatched by Alexandre Lacazette and matters went from bad to worse when Lamela was shown a second yellow card and sent off with 15 minutes remaining.
Despite being down to 10 men, we rallied and finished strongly. Dele was inches away from connecting with Harry Kane’s cross, Kane had a goal disallowed for offside and then struck the foot of the post with a free-kick in the final minute. Davinson Sanchez’s follow up was headed off the line by Gabriel.
“I don’t remember such a bad first half, maybe the first half at Sheffield United before lockdown (2 July, last season), but the result was 1-1, the game was not lost, it was open,” said Jose.
“We improved immediately in the second half, even with 10 players and losing 2-1, then we were a team, then we played with intensity and with great desire. We deserved a point for what we did in the last 20 minutes playing with one player less and with the chances we created.”
It’s time for reflection for Jose, then straight back into action as we travel to Croatia for the second leg of our UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie against Dinamo Zagreb with a 2-0 lead from last week’s first leg.
Jose added: “I have to try to understand what happened in the first half, then yes, it’s a completely different competition and we have an important match on Thursday. 2-0 is not a big result, it’s a good result but not game over, so we have to go there and finish the job we started at home.”
