`Angry´ Petr Cech hurting after Arsenal lose at Tottenham

We have reduced the gap again with Chelsea. “Friday, if we win our game, it will be down to one point and let’s see what they’ve got then at the weekend”.

“We tried to repay all the effort from the fans and the energy they gave us”.

Chelsea have gone first in the last two rounds of Premier League fixtures but Spurs have the chance to pile on the pressure when they visit West Ham on Friday night. Straight away, the penalty for 2-0, you could see mentally we were affected by that.

Goals from Dele Alli and Harry Kane confirmed victory, with it a formality after Tottenham went 2-0 up.

Had United won, they would have moved into third place – temporarily at least – and a top four place in their own hands. “We’re going to approach it in a very positive way… knowing we are playing, for me, against the best team in the league”.

And while for Pochettino the aim is to win the title, the sense of relief and raw joy around the Lane was potent.

Because the players realised it was a big game.

The club’s new 61,000-seater ground is being built next to the site of their current home.

A disappointing Arsenal were restricted to a single chance in the first half when Aaron Ramsey brought a good low save from Hugo Lloris shortly before halftime.

So Spurs will finish above Arsenal this season – and on the strength of today’s performance, that is all they deserve.

The defeat leaves Arsenal sixth in the Premier League table, six points adrift of the top four, and Cech acknowledged that they are unlikely to breach that gap during their final five games of the season.

“They do not come from heaven, you earn them on the pitch”. It’s a system that’s worked for the likes of Chelsea this season, but one foreign to him and most of his players.

“When you are 2-0 down against a team having their best season, who are full of confidence, it’s going to always be hard and it was hard for us to get back into the game”.

Arsenal Fan TV host Robbie needed a police escort away from White Hart Lane on Sunday after Tottenham’s win in the north London derby. “Tomorrow they have a day off”. They are seven points clear of the relegation zone after Saturday’s goalless draw against Stoke City.

Although Pochettino has become the first Spurs manager since Gerry Francis to guide his side to finish above Arsenal, the Argentinian was more concerned with the attempt to reel in Chelsea. The most striking difference between the two old rivals right now is that while Spurs are the division’s most identifiable by style, Arsenal have no defining quality.

So it depends on context – and perhaps which team you favour – when deciding whether there has been a shift in power.

The Arsenal manager has dismissed claims that the dominant club in that part of the capital is now Tottenham, claiming one season does not outweigh the previous 20.