PEA SHOOTER TO THE RESCUE FOR ARSENAL
That’s Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang whose equaliser saves Xhaka’s blushes
Pierre-emerick Aubameyang had not done much. Not by his high standards. Not by the standards of any player on the field, really. He worked hard but with scant return. Few touches where it mattered, even fewer opportunities.
Alexandre Lacazette had scored one, Nicolas Pepe had looked threatening. Of Arsenal’s forward triumvirate, however, Aubameyang had been the quietest. Then, with a split-second of pure striker’s intuition, he popped up to save the game for Arsenal — because that’s what great goalscorers do.
And Aubameyang is a great goalscorer. meaning he will have disappointing matches and then turn the same game in an instant, meaning he needs one chance to change the narrative, meaning he thinks about football differently to the rest. That’s what he did in the 71st minute here.
He thought differently to the rest of his team-mates.
most importantly, he thought differently to Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, too. That’s how he ended up where they were not.
By gambling, by moving where he thought the ball might go, rather than where he knew it would be going, he stole a march on Tottenham’s defenders. And that ensured November 20, 2010, would remain the date on which Tottenham last won a league match at Arsenal.
cesc Fabregas and Andrey Arshavin were on the field that day, Gareth Bale and Luka modric, too.
Not one player who featured in this match played back then and in terms of Tottenham as we now know them, it truly was a different age.
The balance of power in North London has very much changed in the interim, yet one fact has not. Tottenham don’t win league matches at the emirates.
Not since Harry redknapp was manager. But yesterday, only Aubameyang’s smart thinking made sure it stayed that way — his seventh consecutive scoring game in the Premier League at home; the best home run for an Arsenal striker since Thierry Henry played.
credit matteo Guendouzi, too. He played a very good game in midfield, culminating in the cross he put in for Aubameyang to read so perfectly.
it got him between Tottenham’s centre-halves, it bought him time, it bought him space, it bought him the luxury of a one-touch finish to equalise. And it was no more than Arsenal deserved, ultimately, for a second-half revival that almost erased the memory of the errorstrewn opening to hand Spurs a two-goal advantage.
What on earth were they
thinking? Unai emery had spoken of the matches against the league’s elite clubs as the proving ground for his team, yet 39 minutes into this match, all that seemed certain was many of the inherited problems remained.
Hare-brained defending, positional lapses and recklessness had undone Arsenal and left them trailing by two goals.
‘Visit rwanda’ reads an advertising banner regularly displayed on the electronic hoardings around the perimeter here and it seems many in Arsenal’s defence had taken that advice as Tottenham made their way through the middle for their first goal after only ten minutes.
Where was David Luiz and, once that question had been answered correctly, why? Harry kane won a ball in deep midfield, which seemed to come as a surprise to Arsenal’s newly-recruited centre-half. He had advanced some considerable distance on the optimistic hunch that kane would not.
This meant he was turned comfortably by Son Heung-min, who immediately fed erik Lamela.
The damage could have been limited had Bernd Leno stopped his low shot or, at least, pushed it into an area that was not occupied by a Tottenham player.
instead, he took the least helpful option, a tamely-patted parry that succeeded only in giving christian eriksen the easiest finish into an unguarded net.
Worse followed. much, much worse. After 39 minutes, eriksen forced a fine save from Leno, who was beginning to redeem himself after the initial calamity, but Arsenal failed to clear.
The ball was recycled and what followed was an i-was-there moment. As in: i was there when
Granit Xhaka made the stupidest tackle ever seen from an international footballer. And this is Arsenal’s captain we are talking about, do not forget.
Tottenham were in the area but not in a way that couldn’t be contained. At which point Xhaka decided the best course of action would be a rash challenge on Son, diving in two-footed and chopping him down in a scissor motion.
In any other area of the field it was a yellow card and mystery surrounds why Martin Atkinson, the referee, did not mete out two punishments.
Lenient on the yellow, he would have had to be entirely incompetent to miss the penalty, however, presenting Kane with the chance to join Bobby Smith and Emmanuel Adebayor as joint top goalscorer in North London derbies.
Kane took it lustily, the ball struck low and powerfully to the right, Leno going left. It was also his fifth Premier League penalty against Arsenal, a reminder that cool defending under pressure has long been a scarcity in these parts.
Yet, from there, Tottenham somehow lost control of the game. Hugo Lloris was called upon to make a save from Pepe after 43 minutes and before half-time Arsenal had pulled one back. Again, ordinary defending was responsible.
Lacazette had tested Lloris with a free-kick but Danny Rose and a succession of team-mates then resisted the opportunity to clear the danger.
The play broke down in a midfield mess, allowing Arsenal to come back before Pepe threaded a lovely ball though to Lacazette.
He forced it past Lloris and Arsenal emerged from half-time emboldened.
Pepe, having already come close on three occasions, Arsenal forced a series of good chances. Lloris tipped round a Guendouzi shot in the 56th minute and then, from the corner, Sead Kolasinac just failed to get an accurate touch on Lacazette’s flicked header, with Aubameyang better positioned and the goal open.
The Tottenham goalkeeper made a brilliant, fingertip save from a Dani Ceballos shot from 30 yards and another good one from Xhaka.
Spurs’ second-half opportunities were limited by comparison but a rare one, from a lovely one-two, saw Kane hit a post. They were better in the first half when Leno made a tremendous save from Son.
By the end, Kane was reduced to trying to buy a penalty. Not a good look for an England captain.
So, one win in four games for Tottenham in a season when it was hoped they would close the gap on the top two. It is three wins against the big six in 12 matches for Emery now, too, and neither should be happy with those numbers.
With Liverpool and Manchester City already setting the pace, playing catch-up is no place to be.