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Tottenham started arguably the biggest derby in English football off strongly after a poor performance last match week. They began to put pressure on Arsenal in the early moments with a shot from Kulusevski early on. The first 20 minutes were tit-for-tat, however, Spurs spent a lot of time in possession of the ball in the Gunners' half and had multiple promising chances, but, this also allowed for Arsenal's counter-attack to flourish through the wings capitalising on Tottenham’s high line. Something that they continued to punish Tottenham for allowing them to do and have done to every team they have faced in the Premier League.
Arsenal were able to get into the game more as the half closed out creating chances off of corners and counterattacks and dealing with periods without the ball by sitting back and dealing with Spurs’ passing. The first half showed Spurs fans they would be able to hold out against the best however that is not how it would finish. Maddison, Kulusevski and Porro were some of Spurs' most key players in the first half as well as Van De Ven and Benctancur and the whole team is very well-oiled and coherent. The same is also true for Arsenal who have a title-contending base with experienced members in their team who have been competing for the Premier League for years on the red side of North London. Essentially, they are a team we know can deal with the pressure and put it on easily. Players like Havertz, Timber, Gabriel, Saliba, Saka and Trossard shone through in the first half however their play was often scrappy in build-up.
However, they were able to break through in a way that is all too familiar for Spurs fans conceding off a poorly defended corner that Arsenal had looked to have trained in preparation for the Lily-White’s poor set-piece defence which Gabriel was able to capitalise on.
An anticipated debut was also given to Sterling by Mikel Arteta bringing him on in the 80th minute with his only real impact being a run that came in the final moments of the game, which could be a flare of things to come?
The team was competitive and composed and it seemed as if they didn’t miss Odegaard and Rice too much portraying the depth within their squad and the team’s drive to succeed. Saka was also brought off in the 85th minute for talented youngster who made his debut at 15 a few Septembers ago, Ethan Nwaneri. Arteta will be hoping Saka won’t be gone for too long if at all because he will not want him to be on the injury list as well. Arsenal have shown their resilience and that the team can step up even when under pressure like they were from Spurs throughout and that they can be the team that is able to win the title.
Spurs fans will ultimately be disappointed as they were outstanding, creating chances and passing the ball well. This wasn't enough to stop the same old bitter taste of defeat to Arsenal from returning. Arsenal remains on the shoulders of Manchester City and the game between them next week may be a sign of who will come out on top of the Premier League.