At the end Mohamed Elneny, Ben White, Martin Ødegaard and Aaron Ramsdale all sank to their knees, while most of their teammates gazed vacantly with hands on hips. Mikel Arteta completed his formalities in short order before disappearing down the tunnel, knowing Arsenal’s Champions League prospects had almost certainly slipped away too. That old “Spursy” joke will be tested to the limit now: either of the north London teams could still make it but it would take a barely imaginable stumble for Tottenham to let fourth place go.
What a time this was for Arteta’s players to turn out arguably their worst performance of the season. If the manager had been tempted to raid the cupboard for complaints, as he was after they were swept aside in last Thursday’s derby, then he would have found it completely bare.
