THE North London derby descended into CHAOS in the first half after a face-off between Jurrien Timber and Guglielmo Vicario sparked fury.
Players from both teams rushed into a melee by the goal line after Timber had put in a reckless challenge and been confronted by the Spurs keeper.
It wouldn’t be the North London derby without some boiling tempers and on-pitch drama – and Timber ensured that this clash was no different.
The Dutchman went into a 50/50 challenge with Pedro Porro and saw his foot slide on top of the ball, giving Jarred Gillett no choice but to reach for a yellow card.
However, Timber had other ideas, continuing with the ball at his feet until he reached the byline next to Vicario’s goal.
The Spurs keeper was less than impressed with what he had seen from Timber and confronted his Arsenal counterpart.
The versatile Gunners full-back didn’t take kindly to being questioned and immediately grabbed Vicario’s shirt round the collar with both hands.
The fracas sparked a reaction from both teams with players from both sides rushing to their team-mates’ aid.
Thankfully things didn’t get much further than some heated exchanges before referee Gillett was able to calm things down.
Ultimately the Aussie official dished out a yellow card for Timber’s tackle and another one to Vicario for his aggressive confrontation of the Dutchman.
Clashes between Arsenal and Tottenham are not for the faint hearted by any means.
Every game in the Premier League is significant, although the north London derby requires a different kind of bottle – a trait Gary Neville noticed one Tottenham player lacking substantially in Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal.
, which Spurs player did the Sky Sports pundit accuse of looking panicked in the 1-0 loss to Arsenal? Let’s take a look…
Gary Neville criticises Guglielmo Vicario
Neville was scathing in his analysis of Guglielmo Vicario – both before and after the Italian found himself stuck on his line as Gabriel Magalhaes put Arsenal ahead.
After the Tottenham No.1 failed to convincingly deal with a corner from the Gunners in the 34th minute, the 49-year-old said live on Sky Sports: “He is flapping like mad, Vicario. I mean, he flaps at it, then he starts doing that weird little running afterwards to make it look like he is calm. No, no settle down. Just relax. It’s you that panicking, no one else is.”
It is a theme that has carried on from the 2023/24 campaign.
Last term, Vicario often found himself targeted by opponents from dead ball situations, and while it seemed as if the 27-year-old had ironed out this crease in his game towards the end of last season, Sunday’s north London derby would suggest this is still very much a problem for Tottenham.
Tottenham need to find a solution
Ange Postecoglou is surely losing sleep over this situation.
The Australian could work all week on a game plan, but one dangerous set-piece may cause all of his preparation to unravel against more physical opponents, so it is a key detail which needs sorting out immediately.
Whether that means putting the fairly slender Vicario on a different workout routine to bulk him up a bit, or crowding the Italian with some added protection from his defenders, Postecoglou does need to figure something out swiftly.
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