Premier League’s North London Derby Day.
It is one of the most bitter rivalries in Premier League for a long time. It is always tough for both Arsenal and Tottenham players as more than them it is the fans who have more emotions invested in the face-off.
Arsenal walked into the Spurs’ lair, needing to keep winning to be in the race to the league, while Tottenham were chasing a Champions League spot.
As the game kicked off in bright sunlight, Arsenal started well, though to the exacting fans maybe it was a bit sluggish compared to what they have got used to. Tottenham looked busy and showed intent going forward. However, there wasn’t a great lot of incisive action and it was a set piece that broke the deadlock. SA swinging Bukayo Sakacorner kick found its way into a crowded box and as the bodies rose to meet the ball it took a glance off an unfortunate Pierre-Emile Hojberg to give Arsenal the lead.
Tottenham had their chances as Romero and Maddison were denied by the post. Micky van de Ven scored but VAR overruled the goal. On yet another of those moves, Kulusevski and Maddison both went down in the Arsenal box in a melee. As the ball emerged out of the tangle, a counterattack emerged. Kai Havertz swung the ball across the field to find Saka who ran in behind the Spurs high line, with a retreating Ben Davies for company. Saka raced into the box, pulled the ball back to his favoured left foot, and beat Guglielmo Vicario to give Arsenal a two-goal lead. Vicario did redeem himself with a stunning save of a stinging Saka effort.
If the scoreline looked unfair to Tottenham for all their efforts, it got worse. It was yet another set piece that piled the misery on the home team. The Gunners have been brilliant on set pieces and Spurs seem to have a decisive weakness defending them. Kai Havertz, rose the last in the crowd of players but did it to perfection nudging the ball past a poorly positioned Vicario. It was good set-piece execution against suspect defensive tactics. The halftime was still a few minutes away and Tottenham looked crushed.
Tottenham fight back
The North London derby is never short of drama and it was no different this time. The break seemed to help Tottenham. They looked increasingly busy as they fought back. A three-goal deficit is a mountain to climb, but David Raya in the Arsenal goal gave them a leg up in the climb with a silly error. A routine clearance went wrong and the ball lobbed to Romero, who obliged with a simple push to get one goal back. Arsenal was in game management mode by now, but then Declan Rice on the top of the box clattered his boots into Davies in the box. Son Heung-min with spot-kick duties brought the faithful to their feet as the crowd could sense a comeback around the corner.
Arsenal pulled off Martin Odegaard and Jakob Kiwior added to the defensive structure. The last few minutes were frantic but Arsenal held on to a tough win, one which kept the pressure on leaders Manchester City.
With Liverpool looking tired and in disarray, it may now be a two-horse race to the top. Tottenham meanwhile have left themselves much to do if they have to see Champions League action next year.
Ange Postecoglou is getting his act together slowly but surely. He might need some more smart signings to execute his tactical high-press game, which is often a high-risk strategy in the fast and furious Premier League. Conceding 52 goals in 33 games is a damning statistic ( Arsenal has conceded 28 goals in 35 matches)
Mikel Arteta in the meanwhile has seen his team keeping its head together unlike the last campaign where they stumbled in the last few weeks. Arsenal had famously won the Premier League at Spur’s erstwhile White Hart Lane stadium in 1971 and 2004.
Arteta would love a repeat of the coincidence, but for now, the Premier League is City’s to lose.
