A North London derby in front of the highest attendance in a Premier League fixture ever recorded (over 83,000) ended 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. The match started on even grounds with both teams looking sharp in the opening half.
The Spurs dominated possession right from the start and Arsene Wenger’s men had to keep up with the opposition defensively. The first half was well contested with Arsenal hitting the hosts on the counter on a few occasions while holding their shape quite well in their own half of the pitch.
But the second half turned out to be a completely different story. Tottenham started with the same intensity and Arsenal did quite the opposite. The Red and Whites lost their concentration and allowed Mauricio Pochettino’s men to get a firm grip into the game.
And soon the floodgates opened up. Harry Kane drifted off of the Arsenal centre-halves to find Christian Eriksen’s ball in front of the goal but could not convert.
He did not miss the second opportunity as Ben Davies drifted in from the left and lobbed in a scrumptious ball inside the penalty box. Kane was already towering over Laurent Koscielny with an early jump and seamlessly headed the ball into the back of the net completely away from Petr Cech.
The stadium erupted and the 1 goal could have turned into 4 or 5 over the remainder of the 90 minutes. Wenger’s side got completely caught out of pace as the Spurs kept on attacking with multitudinous open chances on goal. If it was not for the Arsenal goalkeeper and Tottenham’s inefficiency, Wenger would have had to go home with an embarrassing loss.
But the one goal meant the visitors were still in the game and it easily could have cost Tottenham as Lacazette found himself two clear chances to equalize in the late stages.
Tottenham Hotspur Player Ratings :
Hugo Lloris – 6/10
Did not have much to do other than Jack Wilshere’s drilled-in effort from the edge of the box.
Davinson Sanchez – 7/10
Worked well with his centre-back partner to keep Aubameyang at bay. Very disciplined to maintain the offside traps.
Jan Vertonghen – 8/10
A solid shift by the Belgian. Very dominant in the air and a clever positioning sense did not allow Aubameyang to get the better of him.
Ben Davies – 7/10
A hard matchup against a pacey Hector Bellerin, but the Welshman did well and got himself the assist.
Kevin Trippier – 6/10
Did not offer much offensively but worked his socks off to cover the right.
Moussa Dembele – 7/10
Another composed and classy display from Dembele. He won his side the battle from the heart of the park and helped maintain possession.
Eric Dier – 6/10
Did the dirty work in midfield. Booked.
Christian Eriksen – 8/10
A usual cool and hard working display from Eriksen who always threatened the opposition defence with his deliveries. Could have gotten himself a couple of assists if the chances were converted.
Dele Alli – 6/10
He was out of the game in the first half but came alive in the second. He to could have upped his assists-tally in the late stages.
Son Heung-min – 5/10
He somehow did not perform accordingly to the form he currently is in. Lost the ball a couple of times and hit an open shot completely wide from goal.
Harry Kane – 9/10
A Man Of The Match performance from the 24-year-old. Always looked menacing whenever he got the ball on his feet or his head for that matter. Scored his 7th goal in 7 consecutive North London derby.
Substitutes:
Erik Lamela – 5/10
Could have inflicted a lot of pain on Arsenal but could not beat Cech to find the back of the net. Booked.
Victor Wanyama – N/A
