One thing we definitely lacked was aggression though. They had it in spades,fairly or otherwise. We just didn't show enough fight out there and it didn't help how conte was so damn passive in the first half. Not his usual screaming and hopping mad self.

What was it..zero shots on target? Their game plan was spot on though. I'm not sure we would've even recovered had it stayed at one nil. We were just clueless upfront and at the back. Starting matic was a horrendous mistake as well.

well it would be interesting how we perform against them next season, that's for sure. another difference was we played much better during that fa cup tie (although we were a man up) but as usual we didn't take our chances. pretty sure i remember costa messing up at least a couple of them.

p. s : if anyone watched the everton vs burnley game, i think it just highlights the main difference between costa and lukaku. for 90% of the match against burnley, lukaku was bang on average, giving the ball away on occasion, some good holdup play (i think his header on contributed to their second goal), a few attempted dribbles, etc. but then the minute he sniffed half a chance when their CB got to close to his back, he friggin BULLIED his way past him, powered towards goal and smashed the ball into the net. keeper had no chance and it really was a 'drogba' like moment. costa isn't capable of that. individual brilliance isn't really his thing, and romelu's scary physique means he can just decide to shove defenders out of the way, whereas diego can just hold it up at best. oh and it also helps that rom doesn't try to get into fights with players who go the extra mile to annoy him. yea, yea i know diego has tuned it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down this season and has remained focused for the most part, but i think now that the goals have dried up, the 'old' costa is back with his sideshow antics.

haha i wouldn't go that far, but still hoping against hope that he'll go with a hazard, willian, and pedro front 3 vs spurs. probably a 0.5% chance of that happening though

This obsession with costa is now well into 'forcing' ivanovic into form territory. At the moment I don't think it will cost us the title,but I believe it might cost us a shot at the FA cup. Who would've thought the man who was so ruthless with the serbian himself,with JT,with oscar,and with mikel,would have a soft spot for diego.

If we look at it from conte's perspective though, he'll feel that he's earned the right to field whoever the hell he wants,after managing to drag what's basically last season's midtable team,up to top spot.

I just hope this isn't some personal mission to send a message to the board that it's morata / lukaku next season or nothing. I mean we failed with most of his targets due to various circumstances (I.e; koulibaly,nainggolan, and morata) when u think about it,and the way he's completely alienating michy just shows he never wanted him in the first place.

the one which really does my head in was taking off victor moses

at least now we know with absolute certainty that azpi cannot be slotted into that LWB position. in fact playing moses at LWB (he has the ability to cut in,with better dribbling skills) and azpi on RWB would've made more sense imo. we know azpi definitely has a killer cross or two with his right peg, so at least there's a bit more balance.

man i hope we knock spurs out this weekend. conte has a real tactical battle ahead of him, because man for man u could argue that the spurs squad is on par with us bar hazard and maybe courtois. if we try and make it a physical battle i think we'll lose out, especially vs the likes of walker, rose, dembele, and wanyama. we owe them one for that dismal defeat at the lane. with no international break to mess up our preparations, it's the perfect time to bounce back.

Haven't u heard? That's the secret to beating us this season. Just use your hands

What a brilliant match. Had to watch on my friggin phone as I'm away somewhere without astro but damn it was worth it!!!!

Looking at our goals,I'd say it really was a masterclass in finishing today. Pick of the bunch has to be matic with his piledriver,that was just jawdropping. Honestly don't think we've scored a better goal from outside the box this season.

Kudos to conte,I feel he got everything spot on,EXCEPT the late michy sub which I disagree with. Costa continued in the same vein, contributing nothing of note and still had the time to miss a sitter.

Bats would've put that away imo, and I hope he starts again vs southampton. Before anyone makes the 'at least diego was in position' argument,please note that spurs were chasing the game, hence were going to leave gaps at the back. Michy was getting zero service all day,forced to feed on scraps as everyone struggled with spurs' high tempo. Gotta feel sorry for him when our best passer is only on the field once he's off.

So it's arsenal, should be a cracking game. I think most of us would prefer to avoid citeh,but it's the final so anything can happen

Diego breaks his duuucccckkkkkkkkkkk~~~~~!!!!!

Conte doesn't look too happy about our setpiece defending

He was quite brilliant under AVB,before that unfortunate long-term injury. Quality youth product from barca

Looked like air

What a team goal finished off by costa!!!!!!!!

Perfect timing for him to regain form, we'll need him focused for everton who'll love to delay our title celebrations.

Aaaaaahh and bertrand scores against us with an unbelievable header

Nice to have a 7 point gap again! Let's see if palace can help us out a little. That win vs liverpool was no mean feat.

good observation, i'm actually quite surprised (in a good way) by his overall attitude towards this campaign. he's world class, i don't think there's any doubt about that, and u hear so many world class players throwing a hissy fit these days when they're out of the team, so you'd almost expect the same from cesc. but all credit to him, kept his head down and fought his way into conte's plans. an unhappy player with a big reputation can always disrupt the team's harmony from within, but thankfully cesc is quite the opposite of this. he's been class when called upon, and a game changer when he comes on as a sub. definitely one of, if not the most important member of our (rotational) squad.

This post has been edited by Kerplunk: Apr 26 2017, 06:46 PM

Are the commentators friggin blind?

Clean as a whistle tackle??!!they didn't even bother to correct themselves after watching the replay!! Absolutely ridiculous!

Whatever the result,I just have a feeling arsenal will do spurs at the lane later.

But we need to get an early goal in the second half! Costa and eden need to forget about their misses.

Alonso's delivery has been awful so far.

Pedro needs to stop those stupid flicks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bloody frustrating,he's been getting into brilliant positions but he keeps giving the ball away every time!