21 FLI SLI SLO Inter Luk so good for the Serie A title
SPURS Lamela turns on the Arsenal turn derby ar but Aubameyang do turn up on time and si
PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG took a seat. Erik Lamela took a bow. But Arsenal took the points.
Arsenal skipper Aubameyang was late to the pre-match meeting and dropped to the bench for this dramatic, eventful North London Derby as punishment.
Lamela was late to the party too, coming on for injured Heung-min Son to score a sublime, outrageous nutmeg rabona that gave Tottenham the lead.
It was a ridiculously brilliant goal of the season contender, and even better than his rabona against Asteras in the Europa League back in 2014.
It will be shown over and over again whenever this fixture comes around.
But the Gunners equalised through Martin Odegaard’s deflected effort – and then went in front with an Alexandre Lacazette penalty.
And when Lamela was later sent off for two bookable offences, there was no way back for Jose Mourinho’s men.
Harry Kane did hit the post as the ten men rallied, but this victory was well deserved by Arsenal, who also hit the woodwork twice in the first half.
What a mess they were in going into this game though. The captain dropped to the bench after turning up late.
Teams who once trailed in their wake riding high above them in the table. Their hopes of a top-four finish all but gone.
And just two wins in their previous seven league games, a run which has made them look so, so ordinary.
Anyone would have thought the Gunners were there for the taking.
Not Spurs though. Not when you can park the bus and defend for your lives.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta enjoyed his first derby win since taking charge as his decision to drop top scorer Aubameyang was fully justified.
Arteta said: “I made what I thought was the right decision. We draw a line there. Now let’s move on again.
“We know how important Auba is for us, for the club. That’s it. That’s been dealt with so let’s move on.
“Hopefully the fans will enjoy it and they will be smiling. Hopefully it will increase the level of confidence in the team and the belief that we can play really well against any opponent. That we can beat big teams as well.
“We know that we have to put together four or five wins in a row to give ourselves any chance of looking up in the table but we are ready for a fight.”
Spurs boss Mourinho acccused his “big players” of “hiding” in the defeat.
Both Gareth Bale and Tanguy Ndombele were substituted in the second half and clearly upset the gaffer.
Mourinho said: “We were poor. Defending bad. No intensity or pressing. Some important players hiding. Really bad. Big players… you play then you are a big player. I the finger at A, B or C, I’m at myself because we are
“But when we were a were, we don’t point fing
“Intensity. Gareth an needed more intensity in
Mourinho was also fu penalty award which led spot-kick winner as re Oliver gave the decision Davinson Sanchez’s tackle after the ball had gone. VA did not overturn it.
Mourinho said: “I don’t a penalty because it’s
ROMELU LUKAKU netted his 25th goal of the season as Inter Milan took another step towards the Serie A title.
The Belgium striker opened the scoring from the spot as Antonio Conte’s side won 2-1 at Torino.
Lautaro Martinez bagged a late winner after Antonio Sanabria had levelled for the third-bottom hosts.
It was an eighth straight win for Inter and No.2 Cristian Stellini believed Christian Eriksen and Alexis Sanchez played key roles.
Former Tottenham midfielder Eriksen and ex-Arsenal forward Sanchez came off the bench in the second half.
And Stellini said: “Sanchez and Eriksen changed the game. Eriksen was ready, albeit with some physical problems. We knew they could be dangerous coming off the bench.”
Conte was serving a one-match ban but was in contact with the bench.
Stellini added: “Conte speaks always. It’s non-stop. We do everything to support his ideas.”
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a perfect hat-trick inside 32 minutes as Juventus bounced back from their midweek Champions League exit to Porto by beating Cagliari 3-1 away.
The striker, 36, found the net with a header, a rightfooted penalty and a leftfoot shot and celebrated by pointing to his ear in apparent response to recent criticism.
It was a comfortable win despite Giovanni Simeone’s second-half strike and Juve are third, 10 points behind Inter with a game in hand.
Ronaldo declined to give a post-match interview and Juve captain Giorgio Chiellini said: “Our strength has always been to respond on the pitch and we did that today, Cristiano above all.”
In Germany, secondplaced RB Leipzig lost ground in the title race when they were held 1-1 at home by Eintracht Frankfurt.
The draw ended Leipzig’s six-match winning run in the Bundesliga and Julian Nagelsmann’s side are now four points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
Emil Forsberg fired the hosts ahead just after the break but Daichi Kamada’s half-volley from Andre Silva’s cross beat Leipzig keeper Peter Gulacsi to make it all square in the 61st minute.
Barcelona hope to put the heat on La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid tonight by beating Huesca.
Atletico were held 0-0 at Getafe on Saturday and have dropped 11 points in their last eight matches.
Barca have won seven of their last eight and can regain second spot from Real Madrid with at least a draw. Victory would cut Atletico’s lead to four points.
Lionel Messi is set to equal Xavi’s Barca record of 767 matches overall and boss Ronald Koeman added: “You also have to look at all the goals he has scored and the trophies he has lifted. Everything he has done is remarkable.”