Paul Merson sends Tottenham apology after Arsenal North London Derby 'slaughter' claims
Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has admitted that he was wrong about Tottenham after he thought they'd get 'ripped to shreds' in the North London Derby last weekend.
Ange Postecoglou's side went a goal down thanks to Bukayo Saka's curling effort taking a big deflection off the knee of Christian Romero, sending Guglielmo Vicario the wrong way early on. Gabriel Jesus would have a chance to make it 2-0 after he caught James Maddison unaware on the edge of Spurs' 18-yard box but skied the effort.
Captain Son Heung-min stepped up to level the score when Maddison broke down the byline and cut it back for the South Korean international who side-footed a response home just before halftime. It was more pain for Romero though, as the ball was deemed to have struck his hand in an unnatural position, leaving Saka to step up and rifle one home to retake the lead for Arsenal.
But just 22 seconds later, Maddison and Son again combined for an equaliser, this time Jorginho falling victim to a poor touch and handing the ball over to the England international who slotted Son through for 2-2. While the game finished with the points shared, Postecoglou was delighted with his side and highlighted their determination to not go down quietly.
«I'm really pleased. They're a top side, it's a tough place to come, not much went our way today,» the manager said. «We conceded an unlucky own goal, then a VAR penalty, so it's not like everything was falling in our favour as well.
»Just a real character and resilience the boys showed, a real belief in the kind of team we want to be, even though there was times today when it was difficult to do that. They just kept persevering and persevering and that's a credit to them."
Tottenham vs Liverpool LIVE —
Read on football.london
