THIS last Saturday saw the arrival of one of the most anticipated days on the Premier League calendar.
Two massive derbies, in the North London derby (Tottenham vs Arsenal) and the Merseyside derby (Liverpool vs Everton) were to be played within hours of each other, and football fans eagerly awaited the kick-offs of these two titanic battles.
To get the weekend started Arsenal went to Tottenham and hit the ground running with a Mesut Ozil goal after only eleven minutes.
That would be the only joy that the Gunners would have for the rest of the half, however, as Tottenham went on to pepper their goal, raining shots down on goalkeeper Ospina. Somehow, Arsenal went into half time ahead, with all the stats heavily lopsided towards Tottenham.
I absolutely love games like this, when the team that is dominating every facet of the game, is the team that is actually losing.
Spurs came out in the second half and continued where they had left off in the first.
With the increased pressure on their defence, it was only a matter of time before the Gunners buckled.
The Premier Leagues new golden boy, Harry Kane equalised from a scrappy corner in the 55th minute, before going on to score a stunning header in the 87th to send the home faithful into raptures.
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In the end, the team that dominated was the team that won, but they really had to work hard for it.
It was a frenetic game in spells, with both teams going hell for leather for the win, but neither willing to give an inch in defence.
Arsenal will be frustrated with their performance in such a big game, especially after taking an early lead on enemy territory.
It leaves them in 6th position after being leapfrogged in the table by Tottenham on the day.
The Merseyside derby, a game that nearly always guarantees fireworks, was an absolute non starter.
Everton came out to stop Liverpool scoring and looked as though they had no intention of scoring themselves, it seemed they were more concerned with not being beaten, than they were with winning the game.
A path to goal was harder to come by than bread in 2008, with Liverpool coming closest after a screamer from Jordan Ibe struck the upright.
Everton only managed to force a save out of Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet in the 87th minute, who having been a spectator for the entire game (he may have even fallen asleep at one point), made an outstanding stop at his near post.
Such was the bankruptcy of entertainment that many people felt they were entitled to refunds on their tickets after the final whistle.
That whistle was accompanied by a cacophony of boos from home fans, who were clearly dissatisfied with the dreary spectacle.
It was the ultimate anti-climax.
Having stayed up late to watch a recorded version of the game, and having refrained from any Internet usage in case of a spoiler, I was thoroughly disappointed, and considered just going to bed at half time.
While Liverpool tried their best to make a game of it, Everton denied them any space and time on the ball, and in the end, most of the Reds passes ended going away from goal, instead of towards it. Can I get a refund on my time?
If there is one thing I really dislike in football, it’s goalless draws.
Here’s hoping for the sake of football fans the world over that we do not have to suffer through many more this season.
Twitter@Thesonofapitch
