Report: Arsenal 2-1 Sp*rs (inc. goals)

Yesterday at 04:59 PM

Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Trossard, Sterling, Havertz

Subs: Neto, Tierney, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Jorginho, Merino, Butler-Oyedeji, Kabia, Martinelli

Arsenal came from behind to win an entertaining North London derby after beating Sp*rs 2-1 at Emirates Stadium, thanks to an own goal from Dominic Solanke and another first half strike from Leandro Trossard.

The gap between them and league leaders Liverpool now sits at four points, although the Merseyside club have a game in hand.

Mikel Arteta made four changes to the team that lost against Manchester United on Sunday, with Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Raheem Sterling and Trossard all coming into the side.

Myles Lewis-Skelly retained his place in the eleven, meaning he would become the second-youngest Arsenal player to start in a top flight North London derby (18y 111d) after Cesc Fàbregas.

Arsenal started strongest and had their first sight of goal within two minutes, when Lewis-Skelly did well to find Sterling breaking through after a poor giveaway from the visitors, but he couldn’t quite get his shot away under pressure from Djed Spence.

What followed was ten minutes of constant Gunners pressure, who were swarming Spurs at every opportunity and dropping set pieces right onto the head of young goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

There was another golden opportunity – this time for Trossard – after Martin Odegaard found Rice at the back post, who cut back for the Belgian but his goalbound effort was blocked by the back of Dragusin.

Having spent the opening 20 minutes in their own penalty box, Spurs ventured forward for the first time and were inches away from scoring when Spence looked for Solanke at the back post, who would have had an easy tap in but for some crucial defending from Gabriel.

It was completely against the run of play and from the resulting corner, an excellent save from David Raya stopped Dejan Kulusevski scoring at the near post after he wriggled free in the penalty area.

The momentum had switched in an instant and it was a familiar tale for Arsenal, who failed to capitalise on their early dominance before falling behind.

Spurs worked another short corner which was headed away by Gabriel, but his clearance could only find Son Heung-min on the edge of the box whose scuffed shot bobbled off an Arsenal leg and past Raya. 0-1.

With frustration starting to seep through the ground, Arsenal found their much-needed equaliser just before half time and it came from a familiar combination of Rice and Gabriel.

Rice delivered another pinpoint corner to the back post, where he found the the Brazilian towering above Dragusin at the back post, whose header deflected off Solanke and into the net. 1-1.

Spurs will have complaints about the goal after replays showed it should have been a goal kick after the ball deflected off Porro and onto Trossard, with referee Simon Hooper giving the corner anyway.

However, just as it did before the Spurs opener, momentum had swung again and Arsenal took the lead minutes later through Trossard after forcing a high turnover in midfield.

Thomas Partey (who was arguably at fault for the opening goal) dispossessed Yves Bissouma on halfway before Odegaard found the Belgian running into space, who ran onto the ball and struck a left-footed strike across goal and into the corner. 2-1.

It was an impressive comeback from Arteta’s men who will have been hoping to avoid similar patterns from recent defeats, but North London derbies are rarely that straightforward.

Ange Postecoglou made two attacking changes at the break, with Brennan Johnson and James Maddison replacing Pape Sarr and Bissouma, while Arsenal were unchanged from the opening 45 minutes.

Arsenal started the second half nervously and were guilty of giving the ball away in dangerous areas on two or three occasions, although Spurs were unable to punish that carelessness despite Son shooting twice from distance.

Then it became a basketball match. You attack, we attack, both teams were leaving wide open spaces and Arsenal had chances to give themselves a two-goal lead but lacked those finishing touches once again.

With half an hour to play, Gabriel Martinelli replaced Sterling who struggled to make an impact again despite some moments. The bigger concern was how tired the Gunners were starting to look – Timber and Havertz in particular – who have been put through considerable minutes over the New Year period.

Hearts were in mouths again after another Partey giveaway, with Gabriel bailing his teammate out with some excellent defending to block from Solanke, before Arsenal then broke up the other end with Rice smacking a shot into the body of Kinsky.

After the game slowed down for about ten minutes, things were becoming increasingly stretched again with any Spurs possession in the Arsenal half greeted with anxious screams from the stands.

Odegaard missed a golden opportunity to seal all three points when Odegaard was played through by Kieran Tierney (who replaced Trossard moments earlier), although the captain somehow shot wide to keep the game open.

With the clock ticking towards full time, Lewis-Skelly found himself at the centre of some handbags after Bergvall tried to buy a penalty, before Richarlison chose to get involved after the teenager was substituted and tried to take the long route off the pitch.

It was a brilliant night for Lewis-Skelly who showed physicality and personality throughout the game, and revved up the Arsenal fans as he came off.

The last few moments were torturous with Spurs chasing an equaliser – Pedro Porro even hit the post in injury time from a mishit cross – but Arsenal saw out the victory for a huge three points.

There are clear weaknesses in the squad that need to be addressed, but tonight’s performance used every last drop of emotional energy from this squad who are battling through a difficult moment and schedule.

With plenty still to play for, eyes will quickly to turn to Aston Villa who visit the Emirates on Saturday.

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