15 September 2024
Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1
The North London derby is always hyped to be an epic game in the lead up to game day but for Tottenham fans it has been a painful experience at times. Arsenal arrived with some key players missing as Rice served a suspension and Odegaard spends some time on the sidelines due to injury. It all seemed set up for Postecoglou’s side to deal a blow to their rivals’ title ambitions.
With home advantage, Tottenham took the game to the visitors. Solanke returned from injury and was instantly involved as he fed the ball to Son wide in the box. The South Korean playmaker picked out Kulusevski at the near post who drew the first save out of Raya. To be fair it would have been more difficult for him to get out of the way of the shot but he celebrated like it was a worldie nonetheless.
As Arsenal half-cleared a Tottenham corner, the ball was recycled back to Kulusevski. He checked onto his left foot and whipped a curling cross into the box. It seemed that nobody got a touch to it but as it came through a sea of players, Raya was forced to make a full-stretch save to keep it out of The Gunners’ goal.
Arteta’s side continue to try and play it out from the back, passing it amongst the back four. Spurs’ high press gave them no time to dwell at all and a loose pass presented the ball to Solanke, with the goal at his mercy. The new signing took a touch and the chance was gone. He really should have taken the effort on first time.
Since becoming Tottenham’s record signing, the striker is still looking for his first goal for the club. The pressure of such a price tag may weigh heavy on his shoulders until he finds the back of the net. He has some boots to fill as he was brought in to fill the void left by Harry Kane’s departure to Bayern Munich. No pressure at all there.
The Gunners created their first chance of the game as a cross was met by the head of Havertz. His effort seemed to be going in but a good save from Vicario, palming it onto his own defender, allowing him to gather the ball at the second attempt. Tottenham needed to dominate the aerial battle in this game if they were to get one over their rivals.
Moments later Martinelli skipped past his marker out wide. He headed towards goal and opted to take the shot on, which resulted in a routine save for the Spurs’ keeper. Saka was raging in the middle as he felt the ball should have been squared to him. It was the wrong choice from the Brazilian winger, opting for the bright lights of scoring himself.
Son broke away down the left and found Maddison wide in the box. He looked up and clipped a cross into the back post towards Solanke. With the ball slightly behind him, he arched his back and his looping header dropped just wide of the far post with Raya scrambling across his goal. Both sides were looking capable of hurting their opponents from the wide positions.
It all then kicked off in true derby style. Timber overran the ball and stretched to challenge Porro. While he got to the ball, his foot ran over the top of it and caught the Tottenham defender on the ankle. The referee awarded a yellow card but both sets of players started pushing and shoving each other. Arsenal’s full back then grabbed Vicario by the shirt in the melee.
To be fair, the incident was identical to another one we saw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Curtis Jones of Liverpool was shown a straight red on that occasion but once again officiating in the Premier League proves to be as consistent as the British weather. The incident will no doubt give Howard Webb another moment in the limelight to placate his over-inflated ego.
Tottenham were creating half-chances into the second half but were struggling to have a clear sight of Raya’s goal. Solanke and Kulusevski had headed chances but neither were able to really test the Arsenal stopper. Postecoglou was starting to look increasingly frustrated on the touchline, knowing his side needed to do more.
Arteta’s side forced a corner and Tottenham’s Achilles heel was exposed once again. They are all too static at set pieces. As the cross came in, Gabriel rose to head home from six yards out and once again questions would be asked of why Vicario never comes off his line to try and deal with the threat. The away end erupted as the ball nestled in the back of the net.
Sides seem to have the answer to success at corners against Postecoglou’s side. Simply crowd the keeper with bodies and his lack of physical presence will cause carnage in their defensive line and there is a good chance one of your players will have a sight of goal. Gabriel took his chance when it presented itself and the rest, as they say, is history.
Spurs struggled to create anything of note in their search for an equaliser. A shot from Kulusevski from outside the box was as close as they came in the entire half. Sadly for the Tottenham fans his effort whistled over the crossbar with Raya watching it over. It just did not seem to be clicking for the hosts in the final third.
Arsenal secured the three points on enemy territory and it felt like a big win for Mikel Arteta’s side. It put them second in the table with a trip to Man City next on the agenda. For Tottenham, this side still look a long way off being classed as a top four side. Ange Postecoglou still has a lot of work to do in North London if he is to bring any sort of glory days back to Spurs.
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