Arsenal has a 4-point gap at the top of the Premier League after defeating Tottenham 3-2 in the north London derby.
Bukayo Saka’s corner was converted by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg into Arsenal’s first goal. After that, Saka wrote his name on the scoreboard to double the advantage for the away team. Things got even better for the Gunners before the break, as they scored another goal through Kai Havertz.
Ange Postecoglou’s team started well in the second half when Cristian Romero took advantage of David Raya’s mistake to score. Tottenham shortened the gap to 1 goal thanks to Son Heung-Min. In the end, the Gunners won a narrow victory and kept their hopes of winning the Premier League title alive. Below are 5 notable highlights.
The king of dead balls
Arsenal have often benefited from set-piece situations this season. In fact, before their trip to Tottenham, the Gunners scored 14 goals from corner kicks – the most in the Premier League. And Arteta’s team added two more goals to that statistic against their arch-rival.
First, Saka took a beautiful corner kick into the box, Hojbjerg came under pressure and headed the ball into his own goal. Then, Havertz headed in from close range after receiving Declan Rice’s serve.
The offside phase caused controversy
After taking the lead, Tottenham seemed to have equalized midway through the first half when Van de Ven scored a goal against Raya. However, the goal was not recognized. After a VAR check, Van de Ven was deemed to have been in an offside position, sparking outrage among the home fans.
Saka is back
Having scored just once in seven Premier League appearances before the north London derby, Saka has been criticized for his recent form. But the Arsenal striker responded and scored in a hard-fought victory over Tottenham. In the 27th minute, Saka made a long pass before rushing into the penalty area. Then he kept his composure, dribbled with his favored left foot, and coolly finished to beat Guglielmo Vicario. He currently has 15 goals in the National Championship this season.
Raya’s mistake
Arsenal seemed to have their 7th consecutive away clean sheet and 15th in the Premier League this season, but David Raya brought Tottenham a lifeline. The goalkeeper on loan from Brentford comfortably held the ball just outside his penalty area, however, Raya then neglected and passed the ball straight to Romero.
Romero made no mistake, touching the ball before sending it into the bottom corner. The Spaniard would have won the Golden Glove had he kept a clean sheet against Spurs, but will now have to wait longer to secure that title.
Opposite situation
The victory for Arsenal helped them top the Premier League table with a gap of 4 points, significantly increasing their hopes of winning their first title since 2004. Many people consider Tottenham’s away trip to be the most difficult match. left of the Gunners this season, but Arteta’s team came through. However, the Gunners have played two more matches than second-placed team Manchester City.
As for Tottenham, they are still ranked 5th, 7 points behind the 4th ranked team, Aston Villa, in the race to win tickets to the Champions League. Although Spurs still have 2 matches in hand, they are no longer decisive in the top 4 race.