Gary Neville discusses what surprised him about Tottenham in the North London Derby.
Gary Neville has stated that Tottenham Hotspur’s performance in the North London Derby yesterday surprised him.
Neville spoke on his podcast after Tottenham drew 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium, saying he was ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the result.
Tottenham came from behind twice yesterday to secure a well-earned point at Arsenal.
Son Heung-min shone for Spurs on the day, scoring twice in the derby to extend his good form.
It was probably Tottenham’s biggest test of the season, but Ange Postecoglou’s side will have surprised many with their performance.
While Neville admits that he expected Spurs to lose on Sunday, he was surprised by how brilliantly they performed.
Neville on what surprised him about the Spurs
Yesterday, Neville acknowledged on his podcast that he feared the quality gap between Arsenal and Tottenham would be “too great.”
However, the Manchester United legend lauded Spurs for their spirited performance.
“I’ll be honest you today before the game I thought Arsenal were going to win,” Neville stated. “I thought Arsenal would win this game.”
“I thought they’d win quite comfortably, that the quality difference would be too great, and that we’d see a little bit of the old Spurs in terms of them being overwhelmed when it really gets tough, which we haven’t seen.”
“I’m pleasantly surprised to be sitting here tonight.” I didn’t say it before the game, but I don’t rewrite history. But that’s exactly how I felt.”
After Arsenal’s performance against PSV earlier in the week, many expected Spurs to suffer their first defeat of the season.
Tottenham has struggled at the Emirates in the past, but they played fearlessly yesterday.
Postecoglou will likely be pleased with the performance, which demonstrates that Spurs are a team to be taken seriously this season.
Of course, the Aussie manager’s stay is still in its early stages, but he’s drastically transformed this Tottenham side in such a short period of time.
