Arsenal fan view: My two hours supporting Spurs went exactly as I expected… and some people do this every week!

In the end, my two hours as a Spurs fan went largely as I had anticipated.

It began with a imprecise trace of hope in opposition to all logical proof, solely to finish in disappointment.

I’ve been right here as soon as earlier than. I used to be at Highbury on Might 16, 1999, when Arsenal confronted Aston Villa at residence on the ultimate day of the season, but additionally wanted a favour from our neighbours at Outdated Trafford to win the Premier League.

Chants of ‘Come on you Spurs!’ rang round Highbury, whereas a banner from the North Financial institution Higher tier learn ‘We help Spurs (till 6pm)’.

That day went a lot the identical means as final night time, although, as Spurs didn’t do their extra profitable neighbours a favour.

Whereas Arsenal supporters on social media have been debating how outwardly to cheer on their newly-found Middlesex brethren final night time, I made a decision to completely embrace the Spurs expertise. I satisfied myself that Cristian Romero barrelling round like a bull in a china store all over the place besides central defence was a very good factor. I cooed over the silky-smooth ball circulation of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

I died a bit inside.

For the primary 45 minutes of the match, Spurs have been surprisingly competent because the relentless — or ought to that be relentlessly uninteresting — Manchester Metropolis cyborg confirmed glimpses of human fallibility.

Nerves? Fatigue? Taking part in in a stadium with much less ambiance than Mercury? Who may say.

I saved on the lookout for excuses to stroll away from the tv and to not topic myself to certainly one in all my most debasing nights as a soccer fan.

Metropolis scoring by Erling Haaland early within the second half punctured the stress a bit, the inevitable was below means and the cyborg chugged again into life.

I anticipated Tottenham to crumble from this level (I already defined how I attempted to undertake the mindset of a Spurs fan), however unusually they didn’t. After which that probability for Heung-min Son. Charging by the midfield. It was up for grabs and…. *@&!!!%*$£@!!!

Thankfully my three-year previous daughter, who was upstairs in her mattress, is a heavy sleeper, in any other case she would have woken to a number of new phrases for her burgeoning vocabulary.

Story continues

The comfort, in fact, is that my Tottenham Hotspur fandom was transient and I used to be in a position to solid it off at full-time, like discarding a sweaty sock on a scorching summer time’s day.

Some individuals have to do that each week, …

Tim Stillman is a columnist for Arseblog.com