HONG KONG :Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur delivered a slice of football history on Thursday by staging the first North London derby outside the United Kingdom as nearly 50,000 fans packed Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Stadium for a pre-season friendly.
The mouth-watering clash proved so popular that around 20,000 people turned up just to watch the two teams train the previous day, underlining the rarity of Premier League local rivals facing off in pre-season friendlies.
Despite tickets costing as much as 2,499 HKD ($318.35), fans considered the historic occasion worth every penny as the North London rivalry finally crossed continents.
“I’m extremely excited. Firstly, watching Arsenal, it’s my second time. I was excited then, I’m still excited now, but this is the North London Derby,” said Khalid Saleh, a 33-year-old Arsenal fan from Perth.
“This is the one game where we’re very nervous … It’s probably a childhood dream, man, to come watch a North London derby.”
The match ended 1-0 to Spurs with their Senegal midfielder Pape Matar Sarr scoring the winner late in the first half with a spectacular strike from near the centre circle after he spotted goalkeeper David Raya off his line.
For many Arsenal fans, the main attraction was watching their 76 million euros ($86.72 million) Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres making his debut, part of the club’s close-season spending spree approaching 200 million pounds ($263.94 million).
Wearing the iconic number 14 shirt, Gyokeres came on as a late substitute, welcomed onto the pitch with a huge roar that echoed around the stadium, which had its roof closed.
“We just signed a new striker, probably the first (specialist) striker we signed since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,” said Mo Muse, an Arsenal fan from Melbourne.
“We’re feeling super, super confident, obviously. Probably one of the best transfer windows.”
Spurs supporters, meanwhile, were eager to see their captain Son Heung-min, with many fearing it could be their last chance to watch the 33-year-old South Korea forward in the club’s colours amid transfer speculation.
“Sonny has stayed for a decade in Tottenham,” said Spurs fan Patrick Lau, who held a placard with pictures of the talismanic forward.
“No matter whether Sonny decides to stay or maybe move to the next chapter, we are so glad that Son has stayed for Tottenham for a decade. He is our legend forever!”
Simba, a Spurs fan from Hangzhou, said he bought tickets for the match mainly to watch Son, who also came on as a substitute.
“I came because Son Heung-min might leave the team,” he said. “I hope to see him a few more times and watch him one last time, as he’s my favourite player.”
($1 = 7.8499 Hong Kong dollars)($1 = 0.8763 euros)
($1 = 0.7577 pounds)
(Writing by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
