Arsenal got back to winning ways with a crucial victory over their old rivals at Emirates Stadium with two quick fire goals after going a goal down.
Following on from the extremely disappointing FA Cup exit to Manchester United which saw Gabriel Jesus suffer a season ending ACL injury, Raheem Sterling started just his second Premier League game for Arsenal. Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard also returned to the starting XI.
With the N5 crowd roaring them on, the Gunners started the game with a high intensity and nearly found an early lead within the first three minutes as Myles Lewis-Skelly played through Sterling but the forward couldn’t get his feet sorted out and the Spurs defence cleared the danger.
Arsenal continued to dominate their neighbours in the opening stages, a deep ball into the Tottenham box from Martin Odegaard was touched down to Trossard from Rice but the Belgian’s goal-bound effort was well blocked by a Spurs defender.
Despite the dominance in the first twenty-five minutes, it would be Tottenham that would draw first blood. Following on from David Raya saving a close-range shot from Dejan Kulusevski, a cross from Pedro Porro was only cleared as far as Heung-min Son on the edge of the box and the Spurs captain fired a low volley which deflected off William Saliba and into the bottom corner. The strike was the South Korean’s ninth goal against Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s side were in desperate need of a response before half-time, and they found one from familiar circumstances. A deep corner from Declan Rice found the head of Gabriel and the ball nestled into the net to give Arsenal a crucial equaliser towards the end of the first-half.
And it would quickly get even better for the Gunners as a perfectly timed sliding challenge from Thomas Partey turned the ball over in Arsenal’s favour and allowed them to counter, a ball from Odegaard was sent out to Trossard and the Belgian struck a left-footed effort past Kinsky and into the Spurs net despite the efforts of Tottenham’s new Czech keeper, giving Arsenal a priceless lead. They may had been losing just five minutes before, but Arsenal went into the break with a lead to hold onto.
In an attempt to get back into the game, Ange Postecoglou brought on Brennan Johnson and James Maddison. And although they did begin to see more of the ball, Arsenal remained in control of the contest and had the better chances. With ten minutes of normal time to go, a low ball into the area by substitute Kieran Tierney found Odegaard with space and on his stronger foot, however the captain hit his shot wide when he really should have scored.
Tottenham would have one final chance in the 94th minute, as Porro found space on the right hand side, the Spainish full-back tried to catch out David Raya at his near post but his strike smashed the outside of the post and the referee confirmed the win for Arsenal to joyous scenes around Emirates Stadium as Arsenal celebrated another North London derby victory.
Another tough home test awaits, as Unai Emery’s Aston Villa come to N5.
Player Ratings:
David Raya: 7
Jurrien Timber: 7
William Saliba: 8
Gabriel: 9
Myles Lewis-Skelly: 8
Thomas Partey: 7
Declan Rice: 7
Martin Odegaard: 7
Raheem Sterling: 6
Kai Havertz: 6
Leandro Trossard: 8