Harry Redknapp and the Spurs fans were looking for a positive reaction from the team following the defeat at the Emirates but, in the event, all they witnessed was another poor performance. It can't be often that the home team is booed off at half-time while in the lead but that’s exactly what happened against Sunderland. To say that the final 2 - 0 scoreline flattered Spurs is something of an understatement, as the manager recognized:

"If you look at the last four or five years, Arsenal have always got ahead of us slightly. But now I think it's certainly even and if you look at the squads, I think that our bench is probably a little bit stronger than theirs at the moment ... We want to get into the Champions League and certainly the players have that feeling. If we want to achieve that aim of getting into the top four, these are the games that you want to be winning. "

In light of the 3-0 drubbing at the hands of that other team from North London, Robbie Keane's pre-match pronouncements now look more than a little foolish. Although Harry Redknapp has tried to put a brave face on the performance and the result, Spurs were, frankly, fortunate not to lose by a bigger margin - a fact not lost on the Arsenal boss.