Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur played out the final North London Derby of the season and it was Mourinho’s men who edged the encounter 2-1.
The win means Spurs have now moved above Arsenal on the Premier League table and are in the eight spots while their local rivals are one place below them. The three points also mean that the Lilywhites now have a better chance of playing in the Europa League next season whereas Arsenal might have to be content with just domestic tournaments.
And speaking about the outcome of the match, pundit Paul Merson has claimed that the once-famous North London Derby has lost its sheen and both the clubs are miles behind the likes of Man City and Liverpool.
Merson told Sky Sports: “If Arsenal had lasted another 10 minutes without conceding, there was only one winner in the football match. Arsenal were the better team, let’s be honest, Tottenham played a certain way, and that’s how Tottenham are going to play from now on I’m afraid. They’ll be hard to beat, get behind the ball, and try to counter-attack.
“They have the pace on the counter-attack to hurt teams, with Heung-Min Son and Steven Bergwijn. Tottenham aren’t a good enough team to open the game up.
“When you watch Spurs play Arsenal, and then watch Man City, it’s chalk and cheese. They are so far behind, it is mind-blowing.
“It’s horrible because we always played football to win something. I went to Middlesbrough to win promotion.
“I went to Portsmouth because I wanted to win promotion. You look at these two clubs now, and they’re going to kick next season off looking to get fourth.
“So your grandchild is going to sit on your lap in years to come, asking: “Granddad, what did you win?” And you’ll say: “Well, we finished fourth three times in a row.” They’ll say: “Fourth? You don’t even get a medal in the Olympics for fourth!”
“I just find it frustrating. They are a million miles behind.”
Both Arsenal and Spurs have been dealing with mediocrity since the start of the season and with each passing game, it seems like they are deteriorating at a rather rapid pace.
Spurs were the finalists of the Champions League just last season so it will be really hard for them to digest Europa League football whereas Arsenal have been on a constant decline for a number of years now and Mikel Arteta will need to do some serious reconditioning if he wants to get his side anywhere close to the top-six.
https://youtu.be/JiaBtTZu51A
