Tottenham Hotspur have lost the North London derby having fallen to a 3-2 defeat against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
After seeing Aston Villa drop points against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, Tottenham were looking to take advantage against Arsenal.
A North London derby against the Premier League title challengers seemed like an ideal game for Tottenham to really ramp it up.
Sadly, the damage was done in the first half as Tottenham fell 3-0 down before the break.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own goal left Tottenham behind before Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz added to the scoreline.
Cristian Romero brought Tottenham back into it by capitalising on a David Raya mistake and Son Heung-min set up a frantic finale with a goal from the penalty spot.
Tottenham just couldn’t find a third goal though, slipping to a 3-2 defeat as the first-half display was just too much to recover from in the second half.
Ange Postecoglou on Cristian Romero
Tottenham just had too much to do but one player who seemed to think that he could claw Spurs back into the game was defender Romero.
The Argentinian buried his chance to bring Tottenham back into the game and seemed to spend a period of the game playing as a striker.
Romero gave it his all, was committed in defence and even tried to impact the game further forward.
On another day, Romero could have had a hat-trick.
One first-half header went just wide before another hit the post, with another then going over the bar in the second half.
Romero finally found the net and almost sparked an incredible comeback, but it just wasn’t meant to be as Spurs fell to defeat.
Boss Ange Postecoglou has now praised Romero whilst speaking to Football London after the defeat this afternoon.
Postecoglou suggested that Romero was ‘outstanding’ against Arsenal and wants to see some of his winning mentality rub off on other players having won the World Cup last summer.
“He was outstanding. He’s a World Cup winner and I just need to get some of what’s in him into some of the others,” said Postecoglou.
This is the Romero we want to see
Romero is a brilliant defender at his best, both on the ball and in terms of keeping goals out at the back.
The Argentinian has so much ability but has often allowed his aggressive streak to get the better of him.
Sunday’s display against Arsenal was much more like it; committed and physical without taking it too far.
If Romero can produce more of these performances and avoid picking up silly red cards, Tottenham have one of the best defenders around.
Romero won’t have taken Sunday’s defeat lightly and he will be desperate to see Spurs get back on track quickly as Tottenham head to Chelsea this week.
