THE RUNAWAY TRAIN DERBY
Six goals, two penalties, seven yellow cards, one red. It’s . . .
UNAI EMERY settled briefly into his touchline seat before kick-off, crossed himself and mumbled a quiet prayer.
Perhaps he had an inkling of what lay ahead, that this would be a derby of the runaway train variety. Perhaps he was surprised to find no seat belt.
Six goals, two penalties, seven yellow cards, one red, careering emotions, an almighty skirmish and enough incident to keep the Football Association’s disciplinary department busy for the next day or two.
No-one dared predict quite where the breathless ride was going to end until Lucas Torreira gave Arsenal the luxury of a twogoal lead with 13 minutes remaining.
Torreira ripped off his shirt, slid on his knees and celebrated his first goal for the club with a triumphant roar, an image which will live long in the hearts of the home fans. After dominating in this neighbourhood for so long, those in red and white have been concerned by Tottenham’s stylish rise under Mauricio Pochettino.
Here then was a day to savour and fuel optimism under Emery as they clambered above Spurs on goal difference. They are unbeaten in 19 games and the confidence tanks are full ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Manchester United. They did not want to go home at the end and the Emirates Stadium, easily ridiculed for its reverential mood and empty seats, pulsated to the sound of victory.
‘We are happy, we enjoy it but it is short, it will be difficult in Manchester,’ said Emery, ever cautious, a manager who deserves great credit.
Not only for his refusal to indulge Mesut Ozil but also to think on his feet and make strategic in-game changes which saved his team when he saw them wobbling.
Arsenal made a fast start and for half an hour looked too fresh for Spurs. First to the ball in midfield, they zipped their passes at pace and dragged the visitors out of shape.
Wing-backs flew forward with purpose, Granit Xhaka orchestrated play from the centre of the pitch and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang appeared capable of finding the net whenever the ball came close.
They deserved the early lead, from a penalty given against Jan Vertonghen who, having lost track of Shkodran Mustafi while defending at a free-kick, threw up an arm and touched the ball away from his head with a hand. Referee Mike Dean made the right call and Aubameyang stepped up to send goalkeeper Hugo Lloris the wrong way and score.
Chances to consolidate this lead were squandered by Arsenal. Lloris saved from Aubameyang and Alex Iwobi but Tottenham survived without further damage and equalised through Eric Dier, who beat Bernd Leno with a glancing header from an in-swinging free-kick, delivered by Christian Eriksen.
Leno has been impressive since dislodging Petr Cech as Emery’s No1 goalkeeper but he ought to have done better with this at his near post.
The celebrations turned ugly as Tottenham’s players clashed with the Arsenal substitutes who were warming up near a corner flag. The pushing and shoving attracted others to race and join the mayhem from afar and missiles flew down from the stands.
Spurs emerged from the blur to go ahead, almost instantly, from a penalty won by Son Heung-min, who had been dangerous on the break and twice forced decent
Opening show: Aubameyang puts Arsenal in front with a cool conversion from the spot REX IMAGES Rescue mission: The Gunners striker draws his side level at 2-2 with a neat right-foot shot GETTY IMAGES Smart Alex: Lacazette puts Arsenal back ahead with a strike deflected off Dier GETTY IMAGES Final act: Torreira beats Lloris to complete the scoring and seal a famous win REUTERS
saves from Leno. This time, he had another plan, dashing into the penalty box and pausing in anticipation of a challenge. As soon as Rob Holding arrived, Son hit the turf. The contact was minimal but a penalty was given and Harry Kane made no mistake.
Emery re-established authority with two changes at the interval.
On went Alex Lacazette to play in tandem with Aubameyang, and Aaron Ramsey, to operate behind the two strikers. Pochettino responded by shifting Dier from midfield into the centre of a back three but Arsenal had settled their nerves and Aubameyang scored his second, his 12th of the season, with a clinical finish at the end of a sweeping move.
Hector Bellerin’s pass sliced open the Tottenham defence and was chopped square by Ramsey.
Serge Aurier was caught flatfooted as Aubameyang eased on to the ball and whipped his shot around the stricken Lloris and inside the post. Dele Alli cleared off the line from Mustafi as Arsenal applied more pressure and Leno saved from Son after a mistake by Bellerin.
But Juan Foyth was not so fortunate when he lost possession to Ramsey on the half-way line.
The Welsh midfielder moved the ball forward and Lacazette fired his team into a 3-2 lead with the help of a deflection off Dier.
Foyth is 20 and full of promise but has no luck. ‘Take away this pass and Juan was by far our best player,’ said Pochettino. ‘Lots of players miss the pass on halfway. There is still 50 metres to the goal.’
Yet it did prove decisive. There was no way back once Arsenal were on top and the positive energy was swirling around the Emirates.
Torreira’s goal was a delight and Vertonghen, booked when he conceded the penalty, was sent off. He won the ball but sank his studs into Lacazette’s ankle on a followthrough and Pochettino did not dispute the red card which rules him out of the game against Southampton on Wednesday.
‘After third goal it was tough for us to find the energy to go again,’ said the Spurs boss, who claimed it was one big game too far after wins against Chelsea and Inter Milan. ‘We paid for the effort and started to suffer.’
Emery sank back into his seat. This time with a look of serenity and satisfaction. Arsene who? ARSENAL (3-4-3): Leno 7; Mustafi 6.5 (Guendouzi 71min, 6), Sokratis 7, Holding 6.5; Bellerin 6.5, Torreira 7, Xhaka 7.5, Kolasinac 7.5; Mkhitaryan 5.5 (Lacazette 46, 7), AUBAMEYANG 8, Iwobi 6 (Ramsey 46, 7). Subs not used: Cech, Lichtsteiner, MaitlandNiles, Elneny. Scorers: Aubameyang 10 pen, 56, Lacazette 74, Torreira 77. Booked: Mustafi, Xhaka. Manager: Unai Emery 8. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-3-1-2): Lloris 6.5; Aurier 5, Foyth 5, Vertonghen 5, Davies 6 (Rose 82); Sissoko 6, Dier 6, Eriksen 6; Alli 6 (Winks 79); Son 6 (Moura 79), Kane 6. Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Alderweireld, Walker-Peters, Llorente. Scorers: Dier 30, Kane 34 pen. Booked: Vertonghen, Dier, Alli, Aurier. Sent off: Vertonghen. Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 6. Referee: Mike Dean 6. Attendance: 59,973.
ARSENAL’S euphoric north London derby win was marred by a series of ugly incidents including a Tottenham fan being arrested for throwing a banana skin at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Metropolitan Police were last night investigating whether the incident was racially motivated.
On the weekend when the Premier League backed the Rainbow Laces campaign to encourage tolerance and diversity, images of Aubameyang celebrating in front of Tottenham fans with a banana skin at his feet were a throwback to the darker days of English football.
The Football Association are set to investigate the flashpoint — this morning they will speak to representatives from both clubs — and images and CCTV footage are likely to prove crucial. However, the FA’s jurisdiction is only over the clubs and not the individual in question.
Tottenham moved quickly to condemn the supporter last night by issuing a statement.
‘Behaviour such as this is completely unacceptable and the supporter in question will be issued with a ban,’ said a Tottenham spokesman.
In total, seven arrests were made by Metropolitan Police officers — two in connection with smoke bombs hurled into the Tottenham end by Arsenal fans. The other four were for public-order offences.
It is understood the arrests for the banana skin and the smoke bombs were made after stewards identified the culprits. CCTV footage was used to confirm their identities.
The FA are also ready to investigate a mass confrontation between both sets of players, substitutes and staff when Eric Dier equalised after Aubameyang’s opener from the penalty spot.
Players had to be separated after Dier celebrated in front of the Arsenal fans. Replays appear to show that the bust-up was sparked when Arsenal substitute Stephan Lichtsteiner, who was warming up, took umbrage at the Spurs celebrations.
Wembley disciplinary chiefs will wait for referee Mike Dean’s report before deciding on their next step — but it appears likely the official will include the brawl in his account.
At the very least, both clubs will surely be asked to provide their observations on the incident.
On the melee, Dier said: ‘I had my back to it all so I’m not too sure what happened. But this is football. It’s a derby.
‘Football is all about emotion and I don’t understand how I can get a yellow card in that situation. It baffles me because if you take the emotion out of football you’re going to destroy the game for everyone.
‘The ref said he gave me the yellow card because it was because of me that the whole thing started. If you watch it, we’re celebrating, I don’t leave the pitch at any point and some of their players who are on the bench come to us.
‘Their players approached us. I don’t know what’s wrong with it.’
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino left his seat to run down the touchline in a bid to calm his players down.
And the Argentine said: ‘In that moment, it was trying to put calm in our play. At 1-1, it was a massive fight there but I didn’t know what was going on in that moment.
‘I didn’t know what happened but sometimes these situations happen. I don’t know if it was the celebration of Dier.’
Arsenal manager Unai Emery said of the flare-up: ‘It is the moment on the pitch where the players are feeling very big emotions and also their hearts (are racing).’
Mesut Ozil’s future at Arsenal was thrown into further doubt after he was omitted from the matchday squad ‘with a back injury’.
Emery was abrupt when asked about Ozil’s absence, merely saying: ‘He has back ache.’ Asked when Ozil sustained the injury, Emery replied: ‘I don’t know.’