What we have learnt this week
After beating Southampton with that late and glorious Gareth Bale goal, Spurs reached 65 points, which is a record total for our team in their Premier League history after 35 games. We fell below record level after the draw at Chelsea, but with two wins we can still reach a highest ever Premier League points tally for the club (71).
We need those two wins now, of course, and we also need Arsenal to slip up either at home to Wigan (possible) or away to Newcastle (also possible). Chelsea travel to Villa Park tomorrow (Saturday), and host Everton on their last day. One win is going to be enough for Chelsea to finish in the top four.
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, not goal-scorer Gareth Bale got man of the match in the Southampton game, whilst goal-scorer Emmanuel Adebayor got his second man of the match vote this season in the Chelsea game. Substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson, who scored Spurs second goal at Stamford Bridge also scored highly, getting 7.4 and has been a good impact player at various times during the course of the season. I think the Chelsea game was one of the toughest tests we have faced this season, and showed the true character and level of ability of our team and the players who took part. Check out the full results of the Chelsea spursometer here.
Spurs finished third, behind Arsenal and Chelsea, in the unofficial "London League". Arsenal finished with 19 points from the 10 derby matches; Chelsea with 18, and Spurs finished on 17 points. Fulham, West Ham and QPR were behind by a distance. Check out Spurs' recent record in London Derby matches here
On a broader scale, it has of course been one of the most significant weeks in Premier League and football history, with the announcement of the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. Like him or not, his achievements with United have been remarkable, and his name has been carved in football history. It is great to think that Spurs are the only team to have taken four points off his team in his final season, and that we won at Old Trafford!
Sir Alex's replacement has also been announced, and this will be another Scot, David Moyes, who has done a great job at Goodison park, with limited resources, and who now inherits the poisoned chalice of succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson. Already, next season looks interesting. Fergie is "moving upstairs" to be a United director and ambassador, but I am sure the phrase "Fergie time" will live on!
Finally, there is an encouraging exclusive Guardian article here which suggests very strongly that come what may, Gareth Bale will be playing at Spurs next season. He is an ambassador for the new BT Sport enterprise, and can't exactly do that from outside the Premier League, can he? I'd say that's good news!
Come on you Spurs!
Results 04-08.05.13
Fulham 2-4 Reading
Norwich 1-2 A. Villa
Swansea 0-0 Man City
Spurs 1-0 S'hampton
West Brom 2-3 Wigan
West Ham 0-0 Newcastle
QPR 0-1 Arsenal
Liverpool 0-0 Everton
Man Utd 0-1 Chelsea
S'derland 1-1 Stoke
Man City 1-0 West Brom
Wigan 2-3 Swansea
Chelsea 2-2 Spurs
Barclays Premier League
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Man Utd 36 27 4 5 79-37 42 85 C
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2. Man City 36 22 9 5 62-31 31 75
3. Chelsea 36 20 9 7 71-37 34 69
4. Arsenal 36 19 10 7 67-36 31 67
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5. Spurs 36 19 9 8 63-45 18 66
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6. Everton 36 15 15 6 52-38 14 60
7. Liverpool 36 14 13 9 67-42 25 55
8. West Brom 36 14 6 16 48-48 0 48
9. Swansea 36 11 13 12 46-46 0 46
10. West Ham 36 11 10 15 41-49 -8 43
11. Stoke 36 9 14 13 32-42 -10 41
12. Fulham 36 10 10 16 46-57 -11 40
13. A. Villa 36 10 10 16 44-65 -21 40
14. S'hampton 36 9 12 15 47-58 -11 39
15. S'derland 36 9 11 16 40-52 -12 38
16. Norwich 36 8 14 14 34-56 -22 38
17. Newcastle 36 10 8 18 43-66 -23 38
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18. Wigan 36 9 8 19 44-67 -23 35
19. Reading 36 6 10 20 41-67 -26 28R
20. QPR 36 4 13 19 29-57 -28 25R
