Tottenham Hotspur came up short in the North London derby, falling to a 3-2 defeat against rivals Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
More than a fortnight had passed since Tottenham’s 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Newcastle United.
Fans were expecting a big response; Tottenham had two weeks to come up with a reaction and had watched Aston Villa pull away in the race for the top four.
A North London derby seemed like the ideal opportunity to get back on track – especially as fans wanted to ruin Arsenal’s title challenge.
The day didn’t quite go to plan though as whilst Tottenham’s performance in the first half was not bad, Arsenal raced into a 3-0 lead.
Two goals from set pieces and a counter-attack from a Tottenham penalty shout, it felt like things just weren’t going Tottenham’s way.
Add in Cristian Romero hitting the woodwork and Micky van de Ven having a goal narrowly ruled out for offside and Spurs fans probably realised it was Arsenal’s day.
Tottenham at least showed some fight in the second half and clawed two goals back but the damage was done with Spurs unable to fully recover from that first-half disaster.
Giovani Lo Celso on Cristian Romero
If anybody was going to inspire a dramatic comeback, it was probably Cristian Romero.
The Argentinian is often slammed for his aggression on the pitch but he was the shining light for Spurs on Sunday.
Romero went close to scoring three times before calmly slotting home to bring Tottenham back into the game from a David Raya mistake.
We saw Romero stay up front for a while, seemingly just desperate to make an impact however he could.
Boss Ange Postecoglou has already praised Romero as ‘outstanding’ against Arsenal and Giovani Lo Celso has now joined in.
Romero took to Instagram to share a heartfelt message to Tottenham fans, stating ‘I am more than ever with this team’.
Lo Celso was in the replies, stating ‘what a player!! Warrior’ having witnessed his compatriot do everything to try and help Tottenham on Sunday.
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Exit surely looms for Lo Celso
This may well have been Lo Celso’s final North London derby.
The midfielder came off the bench as Tottenham chased the game but he couldn’t prevent the defeat.
Reports in recent days have suggested that Lo Celso is unhappy at Tottenham and will seek an exit at the end of the season.
Lo Celso returned from an 18-month loan spell at Villarreal last summer but just hasn’t been able to nail down a spot in Postecoglou’s starting lineup.
Napoli are understood to be interested and it would be a huge surprise to see him start next season as a Tottenham player.
Lo Celso will still get to see Romero’s brilliance on international duty but their time together at Tottenham is surely coming to an end now.
READ MORE: Meet Tottenham defender Cristian Romero, the all-action, World Cup winning centre-back
