Erik Lamela and the ecstasy and agony of sport

As adages go for distilling the rollercoaster of sport, “hero to zero” is about as neat as it gets.

The phrase – uttered for as long as anyone can remember by professional commentators, armchair fans and headline writers – sums up the highest highs and the lowest lows, the light and the dark, the ebb and flow of sport, as it changes again and again, seemingly on the whim of pure fate.

Tottenham’s Erik Lamela had one of those days on Sunday afternoon, scoring a wonder goal before being sent off in the defeat to bitter north London rivals Arsenal.

First came the heroism, an extraordinary rabona goal, as the Argentine sent a shot skidding into the net by kicking his left leg behind his right and past the helpless Bernd Leno in the home goal.

As with so many feats of artistry on a sporting field, the ingenuity to even think of doing it was arguably as impressive as the execution. “The goal is insane,” said former Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, a player who knows a thing or two about scoring beautiful goals, in the Sky Sports studio. “It’s probably the best one I’ve ever seen. The technique, the power and keeping it down – he even gets a bit of curl on it to take it back in.”

It really was a wonderful goal, truly fitting of winning such a high profile and hotly contested contest.

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Alas, for Lamela and Tottenham, not only did the goal not win the game, it turned out to be the beginning of a torrid afternoon. Goals from Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette soon turned the tide for the hosts and it was up to Spurs to conjure some more magic to get themselves back on terms.

Instead, Lamela was booked twice within seven second-half minutes and sent off. Rather than finishing the game on the winning side, he finished it in the dressing room.

From hero to zero in just over an hour. The beauty of sport – the sheer joy and madness of it – encapsulated in one man’s ecstasy and agony.

Yours,

Ben Burrows

Sports editor