Arsenal Secures Historic 3rd Consecutive Away Victory Against Tottenham
Arsenal Secures Historic Third Consecutive Away Win Against Tottenham for the first time since 1987/88, Closing in on Manchester City at the Top of the Premier League Table.
Despite losing important players like Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard to injuries, Arsenal defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the North London Derby. The Gunners are now only two points behind Manchester City in the Premier League rankings after this significant victory.
Arsenal extended their dominance in the north London derby on Sunday by defeating Tottenham 1-0 behind Gabriel Magalhaes. The Gunners overcame the unavailability of Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, two important midfield players. Due to an ankle injury sustained while serving time in Norway, Mikel Arteta’s team was missing captain Odegaard, and Rice was suspended for his red card against Brighton.
Arsenal looked vulnerable going up Seven Sisters Road to meet their fierce rivals after losing two such important players. But before Gabriel scored the game-winning goal in the second half, the Premier League championship hopefuls dug deep with a combative display, taking advantage of Tottenham’s most recent instance of careless finishing.
With the Brazilian defender’s first goal since February, Arsenal has won three of their last four league games as they look to capture their first championship since 2004 following two consecutive second-place finishes.
Now, in their last eight encounters with their vile neighbors, Arsenal has only lost once, in May 2022, and has triumphed on their last three trips to Tottenham.
With their focus shifting to their Champions League opening at Atalanta on Thursday, the second-place Gunners remain two points behind Manchester City. The following weekend, they will travel to take on Pep Guardiola’s champions.
Arsenal proved they had plenty of steel and heart in the 196th North London Derby, but they also needed a little bit of luck as Tottenham let them off the hook in the first half.
This season, Tottenham has a history of failing to convert dominating possession into goals, and Ange Postecoglou’s team was once again let down by their lack of creativity.
Following their late-season collapse that denied them a top-four spot the previous season, Tottenham’s second consecutive loss leaves them with only one win from four games. Postecoglou is concerned about the start of the season.
Arteta had pushed his players to demonstrate the “resilience, depth, and hunger” required to overcome their selection problems, turning to Jorginho and Gabriel Martinelli to take the place of Rice and Odegaard.
Tottenham enjoyed a bright start, and Arsenal needed to summon all those attributes. David Raya produced a wonderful stop at his near post after Son Heung-min’s pass found Dejan Kulusevski for an easy goal.
Kulusevski’s cross zipped past a huddle of players and toward the far corner, where the Spaniard swiped it away at full stretch, forcing Raya to make an even more nimble stop.
Son forced Arsenal into giving up possession, and William Saliba had to make a vital, last-ditch tackle to deny the unmarked Dominic Solanke, who took too long to shoot inside the box.
Arsenal gained confidence from Tottenham’s carelessness as Kai Havertz scored with a header from close range that drew a fantastic save from Guglielmo Vicario. Martinelli’s curler a few moments later again tested Vicario’s ability.
Solanke, who was set up by James Maddison’s cross, did a good job deterring Gabriel, but his looping header went just wide.
The simmering derby animosity erupted into a flurry of violent challenges after Pedro Porro, the Tottenham right-back, was left writhing on the ground by Jurrien Timber’s tackle.
Vicario challenged the Arsenal defender, and following a brawl involving a plastic bottle hurled from the bleachers, both players received bookings.
When Kulusevski violently upended Jorginho just before halftime, a heated altercation had resulted in seven bookings, five of whom were Tottenham players.
Soon after the half, Micky van de Ven put Raya to the test with a quick glance, but in the 64th minute, toothless Tottenham were dealt a severe sucker blow.
Arsenal has become experts at dead balls; they have scored 23 goals from set pieces since the beginning of the previous campaign. This was yet another skillfully executed routine.
Saka’s in-swinging corner found its way to Gabriel, who managed to avoid being pushed by Cristian Romero and then powerfully headed the ball past Vicario from five yards out.
In the last moments, Tottenham put pressure on Arsenal, but they were unable to break through as Kulusevski fired just wide.
