Arsenal entertained their local rivals, Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium earlier today hoping to continue their remarkable unbeaten streak across all competitions. The Gunners started the match on the front foot and scored the opening goal of the game in the 10th minute courtesy of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s penalty. However, Spurs came up with a quick response and scored the equaliser through Eric Dier’s header. The away team completed the turn around just four minutes later when Harry Kane gave Spurs the lead from the penalty spot to go into half-time with a slender one-goal advantage.
Unai Emery’s players got a foothold in the match early in the second half and found the equaliser through Aubameyang’s superb finish. The home side scored again when Alexandre Lacazette found the back of the net from long range in the 74th minute. Just three minutes later, Lucas Torreira doubled Arsenal’s lead as the match finished with a full-time score of 4-2 in the Gunners’ favour in what turned out to be a highly entertaining North London derby.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the match against Spurs.
GK: Bernd Leno – 5/10
Not the best day out for the German keeper. He was guilty of not covering his inner post during Eric Dier’s goal. Leno conceded two goals on the day which goes on to highlight Arsenal’s defensive problems at the moment.
CB: Shkodran Mustafi – 5/10
He failed to cope with the threat of the Tottenham attackers and gave away some cheap fouls during the contest.
CB: Sokratis Papastathopoulos – 6.5/10
The Greek defender was aerially dominant and won a lot of headers to keep the Tottenham attackers at bay in the second half.
CB: Rob Holding – 5.5/10
The Gunners youngster showed his inexperience on a couple of occasions but overall did enough defensively to see out a victory for the home team. Conceded a cheap penalty which put a dent on his overall performance.
RM: Hector Bellerin – 6.5/10
The Spaniard was a good outlet for the Gunners down the right flank. He also managed to neutralise the threat of Heung-min Son when facing his own goal.
CM: Lucas Torreira – 8/10
The Uruguayan won the midfield battles and was able to establish Arsenal’s dominance in the middle of the park. He capped off his excellent performance on the day with a well-taken goal in the final quarter of the match.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 7/10
The Swiss midfielder protected the Gunners backline well in the second half to stop Spurs from scoring.
LM: Sead Kolasinac – 8/10
It was one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt. He was a constant menace down the left flank and linked up well with his teammates in the final third.
RW: Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6/10
Not as dominant as some of his other colleagues yet the Ukrainian talent tried to be positive in the opposition half and never gave up.
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 9/10
The Gabon forward scored a brace during the match and was a real headache for the Tottenham defenders. His second goal was a thing of beauty which was a joy to watch for the Gunners faithful inside the Emirates.
LW: Alex Iwobi – 7.5/10
Iwobi was once again quite effective in the attacking third and combined well with Aubameyang and Kolasinac down the wide areas.
Substitutes:
CAM: Aaron Ramsey – 8/10
The Welshman came off the bench to earn two assists in the second half.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 8/10
His scruffed finish helped Arsenal regain the lead in the second half.
CM: Matteo Guendouzi – 6/10
The French starlet came on to provide some fresh energy in midfield.
