Tottenham 1-1 Arsenal: 3 key takeaways from the North London derby | Premier League 2018-19
Spurs hosted Arsenal at Wembley in one of the most anticipated clashes of the game week twenty-nine. The Gunners looked to close down the gap to just one point between them and their North London rivals and on the other hand, Pochettino needed a win after two successive defeats.
The home side had better possession of the ball in the first half, but couldn't create any clear cut chances in the opening stages of the match with Harry Kane's shot getting ruled out for offside. The Gunners looked dangerous on the break and a defensive mistake by Sanchez saw Lacazette set Ramsey through who made no mistake to put it past Lloris to give Arsenal the lead.
The goal seemed to have opened the floodgates for the home side and they piled on the pressure only to be denied by a couple of outstanding saves by Bernd Leno. First 45 minutes was dominated by Spurs in the attacking sense but Emery's side took an all-important lead.
Spurs kept up the pressure in the second half and got their reward when Harry Kane converted from the penalty spot. Arsenal got a penalty of their own but Aubameyang's shot was saved by Hugo Lloris.
Here are the three takeaways from the game.
#3 A solid first-half show by Arsenal
The Gunners came into this game on the back of some good results. Their opponents, on the other hand, suffered back-to-back defeats in the Premier League. The team selection of Emery raised a few eyebrows before the game as they set up to stop Spurs and hit them on the counter.
Even the manager in his pre-match interview respected Tottenham's attacking prowess and benched the likes of Aubameyang and Ozil to prioritize the defense first in this all-important derby.
The first half went as planned for Emery with Ramsey giving Arsenal the lead and they defended with all the players behind the ball to take away any space for Spurs to play through. Arsenal started with 4-2-3-1 but shifted to 4-4-1-1 to add more numbers in the midfield.
Towards the end of the half, Bernd Leno came up with two stupendous saves - first to deny Eriksen with a reflexive left foot and then a strong left hand to deflect Sissoko's shot wide. It was a half in which Tottenham looked shaky while Arsenal got their tactics spot on.