Tottenham Hotspur had Jan Vertonghen to thank after a stunning clearance during the North London derby.
Danny Murphy has told the Daily Mail that Jan Vertonghen’s block in the final moments of the North London derby was incredible, and suggested that it will have given Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino a sizeable lift.
It was an eventful game at Wembley, with Harry Kane equalising from the spot 16 minutes from time after Aaron Ramsey had given the visitors an early lead.
Arsenal had a glorious chance to win the game in stoppage-time, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s effort was saved by Hugo Lloris, and that led to a cross that would have surely been tucked into the net had it not been for Vertonghen managing to hook the ball over the bar.
And Murphy suggested that the moment of magic from the Belgian was something that stuck in his mind following the full-time whistle.
“I also have to say the covering tackle from Jan Vertonghen to deny him [Aubameyang] the rebound was incredible —exactly the kind of desire to stop conceding that will give Pochettino a lift. You have to applaud defenders when they do things like that,” he told the Daily Mail.
Gunners fans will understandably argue that Vertonghen only managed to get to the ball when he did as he clearly encroached on the penalty area before Aubameyang struck his spot-kick.
However, while the penalty definitely should have been retaken, Vertonghen subsequently seems to make the ground quite comfortably so perhaps he would have still been able to get a touch on the ball had he waited a little longer.
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