Tottenham and Arsenal bounced back from demoralising defeats at the weekend with comprehensive victories on New Year’s Day.
Spurs made short work of Cardiff, banishing memories of Saturday’s shock 3-1 defeat at home to Wolves, and in the process leapfrogging Manchester City to sit second in the table. The Lilywhites remain six points shy of runaway leaders Liverpool and they’ll hope that City do them, and the rest of the chasing Premier League pack, a favour on Thursday when they host Liverpool at the Etihad.
Cardiff quickly crushed
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The match was over as a meaningful contest within the first half-hour as Tottenham ran riot against a feeble Cardiff defence. Harry Kane opened the visitors’ account with a scrappy goal after just two minutes, and Christian Eriksen drove a low shot into the net ten minutes later. Son Heung-Min added a third on 26 minutes and thereafter the game petered out as neither side added to the scoreline.
Poch purrs
The result put a smile back on the face of Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, who said he was “very pleased” with the result. “The energy we showed from the beginning was fantastic to dominate the game,” added the Argentine. “We knew that it would be difficult to open the score and we wanted from the beginning to have a high tempo. We found the solution in the first 20 minutes.”
Admitting that the Christmas period had been “tough”, Pochettino said his side needed to show more consistency in the second half of the season if they were to be title contenders come May. As for tomorrow’s clash between Liverpool and City, he’ll be watching: “Of course I will watch, it will be an unbelievable game and I enjoy football.”
Gunners show grit
Arsenal remain fifth, two points behind Chelsea (who play Southampton this evening) after a much-needed home win. After Saturday’s 5-1 humiliation at the hands of Liverpool, the Gunners were in desperate need of three points and Fulham obliged their hosts with a characteristically incompetent display.
Fulham were the livelier of the two in the opening exchanges, and Ryan Sessegnon wasted two good chances, before Granit Xhaka buried Alex Iwobi’s cross on 25 minutes. Alexandre Lacazette made it 2-0 ten minutes into the second period before Aboubakar Kamara pulled one back for the visitors.
Confidence trick
But Arsenal eased clear in the final quarter thanks to goals from Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. “We wanted to win and this result will give confidence,” said Arsenal manager Unai Emery. “We continued to push and create chances and we can be happy.”
Despite the contentment of Emery, three defeats and a draw in Arsenal’s last six matches have revealed weaknesses in the squad and there are calls among fans for the club to splash the cash in this month’s transfer window. Asked if he was going to embark on a shopping spree, Emery replied: “It depends if the transfer market can help you - only if there are players who can help us in different positions. The club is looking to see.”
Costly mistakes
The defeat means Fulham remain rooted in the relegation zone with only Huddersfield between them and the bottom of the Premier League. “If you analyse the first half hour we created two great chances,” reflected Fulham boss Claudio Ranieri. “But then Arsenal scored with their first chance because of our mistake and then we made another mistake and they scored.”
