Arsenal 0-2 Tottenham: 4 talking points from the North London derby
Tottenham have made it into the final four of the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2014/2015. They achieved it with a 2-0 victory over arch-rivals Arsenal at The Emirates.
Spurs lost 4-2 against Arsenal earlier this month and this would come as a measure of sweet revenge for the Lily Whites as they claimed bragging rights in North London.
Tottenham would now head into the semi-final along with Chelsea, Burton Albion, and Manchester City and would know their fate in terms of their opponents when the draws are made.
This was the second loss in succession for Arsenal and puts a serious dent in the progress made since Unai Emery’s appointment. In this piece, we take a look at four talking points from the 197th North London Derby.
#4 Harry Kane becoming a more complete player
Harry Kane has undoubtedly been the premier striker in Europe over the last four seasons, winning consecutive EPL Golden Boots. He also finished as the highest goalscorer at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
While his goalscoring instincts have never been in question, he had always faced allegations that he was just a poacher, there to finish off moves and score goals for his team (which he admittedly did with aplomb).
This season, Kane has gone about improving other facets of his game, becoming a more rounded player, constantly dropping deep to help and kickstart play and this has been reflected in the numbers he has posted.
In 17 Premier League matches, he has assisted 3 goals for teammates and to put this in context, in the five years since he became established as a Tottenham starter, he has bettered this figure just two times (7 in 30 matches in 2017 and 4 in 34 in 2015), which are both figures he looks set to surpass this season. His other assist figures in the PL read two in 37 last season and one in 38 in 2015/2016.
Against Arsenal, Pochetino decided to start Kane from the bench, only introducing him in the 57th minute and just 66 seconds later, the 25-year-old was on hand to supply the assist for Dele Alli to put Arsenal to the sword much as he did for Eriksen’s stoppage-time winner against Burnley over the weekend.