Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur: 5 talking points as Gunners blow Spurs away in thrilling derby victory | Premier League 2021-22
Arsenal won the bragging rights in North London after beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at the Emirates in the Premier League.
First-half goals from Emile Smith-Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka sealed another derby win for the Gunners, who saw Heung-min Son pull a consolation strike back for Spurs.
In a sizzling opening stanza, Mikel Arteta's side ran the rings around their hapless visitors, showing deadly attacking intent whilst also being helped by Tottenham's awful defense.
Although the momentum changed after the break, with Spurs carving out a few good chances, their wastefulness kept them from clawing their way back into the match.
But in a moment of respite for the beleaguered fans, Son reduced the deficit late on with a goal following some good work on the left from Bryan Gil and Sergio Reguilon.
Yet it wasn't a performance Nuno Santo would be proud of, with the Portuguese manager now coming under pressure for not producing a victory in six consecutive games in all competitions.
2020 - Arsenal will end today above Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League table for the first time since October 25th 2020. Superiority. https://t.co/Lw5tYv6epQ
Arsenal, meanwhile, who were languishing near the foot of the table after their opening three games, now find themselves above their derby rivals having won for the third time in a row.
Here are the major talking points from the North London derby:
#1 A game of two halves
Both teams have been languishing in the bottom half of the standings following what's been an erratic season thus far. Not many fireworks were expected from this edition of the North London derby.
However, the Gunners tore the script apart with a boisterous opening stanza, arguably their best 45 minutes of the year, scoring thrice to smash Spurs off the park.
It was going to be a supposedly long evening for Nuno Santo and co., considering how bland their performance was in that half. But his side showed great improvement after the break.
HT: Arsenal 3-0 Tottenham.
Arsenal are showing Tottenham levels in the derby so far. https://t.co/pFBYMeFbWl
Looking more dangerous and spirited, they created quite a few good chances and, following some frustrating moments of near-misses, pulled a consolation strike back through Son.
Arsenal, so dynamic and industrious in the opening 45, lost much of that steam after the break, although Tottenham's own profligacy meant their lead was never relinquished.
#2 Harry Kane's goal drought continues
For the first time in his Tottenham Hotspur career, Harry Kane has gone the first five games of a league season without scoring a goal. Today's blank wasn't for the lack of chances either.
The striker, non-existent in the opening stanza, received two good chances after the break but ended up wasting both. His effort from the edge of the box was parried away by Ramsdale and then later lobbed over the Arsenal goalkeeper just wide off the post.
To make matters worse, he was also involved in Arsenal's third of the evening, losing the ball in midfield as the hosts broke into a counter. He then came sliding into a careless tackle on Saka which only resulted with the ball coming off for the latter to score.
Harry Kane had as many touches in Arsenalβs penalty area as he had in his own in the first half of the North London Derby [1].
Causing problems in the wrong box. π¬ https://t.co/02FClotw9x
A funny sequence to say the least.
Either way, it was another difficult outing for Tottenham's prolific goalscorer, who looked completely disinterested for much of the game and showed no desire to even get on the scoresheet.