The story should have been about Mathys Tel deciding it was time to unfurl the brilliance that took the French forward to Bayern Munich when he was a teenager. Tottenham were closing in on survival when the 21-year-old broke the deadlock against Leeds United but Roberto De Zerbi has been in north London long enough to know nothing is straightforward when his team play at home.
Disaster was on the way, Tel’s wild challenge on Ethan Ampadu allowing Dominic Calvert-Lewin to equalise from the spot. Tottenham, who have not won at home in the league since December, had missed the chance to move four points clear of 18th-placed West Ham with two games to play. It is likely that this shootout for survival with West Ham will come down to whether Tottenham can win when they host Everton on the final day.
Tottenham’s task was to make sure that forcing their fans to will Arsenal to victory against West Ham on Sunday was not going to become yet another indignity. For all the recent positivity, though, this was a team who have almost forgotten the meaning of home advantage and in that context it was hard not to feel it was a bit forced when the enthusiastic shouting man with the microphone used a pre-match interview with Glenn Hoddle to claim there has barely been the slightest whiff of mutiny in N17 this season.
