JESUS THE SAVIOUR IN DERBY DELIGHT
Brazilian strikes as leaders Arsenal punish bitter rivals
NO ONE expects Arsenal to stay the course at the top of the Premier League but on a beautiful, crisp autumn day at the Emirates in front of a full house of deliriously happy fans revelling in a stunning, ebullient start to the season and the comprehensive dismissal of their North London rivals, no one cared too much about the title.
This moment was sweet enough for Arsenal to savour in isolation. We have grown so used to fragility, both mental and physical, being written into Arsenal’s collective character that many had expected the pragmatism of Antonio Conte’s Tottenham to prick the bubble of the home side’s idealistic, elegant beginning to the season. That did not happen.
Spurs imploded, not Arsenal. Everyone thinks Manchester City will win the league but this was a statement victory for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and his team, their first win of the season over another so-called Big Six team. Arsenal keep passing the tests put in front of them and the style with which they are doing it is beautiful to watch.
‘It showed us,’ Arteta said after the game, ‘that we are able to play at this level against this kind of opponent and that should give the players confidence. Our history tells us that this is the way we play. You feel the desire and humility from the players. They haven’t won anything yet and that is important to have that humility, which is a big driver for us.’
This was a victory for optimism over pragmatism, a victory for creativity over containment and a victory for youth over experience.
Arsenal carry the air of a coming force, pulsing with energy and verve. Conte’s Spurs are the league’s great opportunists but at the home of their rivals, they looked like a side that needs to add more quality signings to the improvements the Italian has already made.
Spurs have not won at the Emirates for 12 years and when Emerson Royal was sent off for a foolish foul on Gabriel Martinelli after 62 minutes, they never looked like putting a dent in that sequence. They are well-organised under Conte but they are limited once you move beyond the brilliance of their forward line. Arsenal, in contrast, have started to play like a side that does not accept limitations.
Arsenal started the game fast. Hugo Lloris tipped a volley from Martinelli round the post, Bukayo Saka, liberated from the left wing-back role where Gareth Southgate employed him in Italy eight days ago, probed constantly on the right, Thomas Partey mopped up loose balls and Martin Odegaard orchestrated the play as elegantly as always.
Spurs had the best early chance to score, though, when Son Heung-Min clipped a clever free-kick behind the Arsenal defensive line and a host of Spurs players ran on to it. Eric Dier got to it first but could only help it on to Richarlison, who reacted instinctively and poked the ball towards goal. It was heading for the corner until Aaron Ramsdale made a fine reaction save and pushed it wide.
Midway through the half, Arsenal took a deserved lead. Saka teased and taunted his marker on the right, feinting and probing and making space and time for those around him. He passed the ball square to Ben White, who moved it on to Partey, lurking on the edge of the area. Partey had time to measure his shot and curled it high past the despairing left hand of Lloris into the net.
Arsenal’s lead did not feel safe, though, and ten minutes later, Spurs were level. Richarlison made another foray into the box and, after he had evaded one challenge, he was felled by a clumsy tackle from Gabriel. It was a clear penalty and Kane dispatched it with aplomb, chipping it down the middle, over the trailing, flailing legs of Ramsdale as he dived to his right. It was Kane’s 14th goal in North London derbies, more than any other player has scored.
Four minutes after half-time, Arsenal regained the lead with a goal that was a comedy of errors from the Spurs defence. Saka was given too much time to cut in from the right and curled in a left-foot shot. Lloris covered it comfortably but he pushed it out weakly into the crowded box. It fell at the feet of Cristian Romero, who should have cleared it but stumbled over it and miskicked it back to Lloris.
It should have been the simplest of catches for Lloris — even if it might have led to appeals for a backpass — but somehow the France goalkeeper allowed the ball to slip through his hands and squirm underneath him. Gabriel Jesus seized on the loose ball gleefully and lashed it over the goal line.
Spurs’ chances of forcing their way back into the game again were undermined just after an hour when Martinelli sprinted down the right and Emerson Royal closed in on him. Martinelli is something of an agent provocateur but the defender’s challenge was rash and stupid. His lunge caught Martinelli above the ankle and was high and late. Anthony Taylor showed him a straight red card, the correct decision.
Arsenal capitalised on Royal’s stupidity straight away. Partey drove forward from midfield and laid the ball off to Martinelli. He surged towards the Spurs box before Granit Xhaka took it off him, wrong-footing the Spurs defence. Xhaka took a touch, held off Dier and lashed a left-foot shot low past Lloris into the net.
The game was over. Conte brought on four Spurs subs in one burst of radical frustration but other than destroying the rhythm of the game, they made little difference.
‘We had chances to exploit situations in the first half,’ Conte said ruefully later, ‘but we made mistakes with the last pass.’
Spurs must build on the advances Conte has made but on the evidence of this North London derby, they are behind Arsenal in the struggle back towards the summit.
ARSENAL (4-3-3): Ramsdale; White (Tomiyasu 90) Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko (Tierney 73); Odegaard (Vieira 80), Partey (Lokonga 73), Xhaka; Martinelli, Jesus (Nketiah 80), Saka 8. Subs (not used): Turner, Holding, Nelson, Marquinhos. Booked: Saliba. TOTTENHAM (3-4-3): Lloris; Romero, Dier, Lengelet (Sanchez 71); Emerson, Hojberg (Skipp 75), Bentancur, Perisic (Bissouma 71); Richarlison (Sessegnon 71), Kane, Son (Doherty 72).
Subs (not used): Forster, Gil, Spence, Sarr. Booked: Dier. Sent off: Emerson. Referee: Anthony Taylor. Attendance: 60,278.