Erik Lamela and the ecstasy and agony of sport

The Tottenham midfielder went from hero to zero in just over an hour on Sunday – a neat distillation of everything we love about sport, writes Ben Burrows

Lamela puts Spurs 1-0 up against Arsenal with a jaw-dropping piece of skill (Getty)

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.