Tottenham 1-1 Arsenal: Tactical analysis and 5 talking points | Premier League 2018/19
Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 against Arsenal in a crucial Premier League match at Wembley today. Spurs now have 61 points from 29 matches, whereas Arsenal have 57 from the same number of matches.
Tottenham are still the favourites to finish at the 3rd place, whereas Arsenal would have to fight with Manchester United and Chelsea for a top 4 finish.
The North London derby was a scrappy affair at times, as the teams got involved in a midfield slugfest for the majority of the match. Arsenal took the lead in the 16th minute through a strike from Aaron Ramsey, while Tottenham equalized in the 74th minute through a Harry Kane penalty.
A late Aubameyang penalty miss meant the Gunners failed to go within a point of their London rivals.
Overall, Tottenham was the dominant team in the match with almost 60% ball possession, but Arsenal made some swift counter-attacking moves of their own. We would now take a look at the tactical analysis and 5 talking points of the match:
#1 Arsenal went ahead through a beautiful goal (and a defensive blunder!)
Aaron Ramsey, who is set to leave Arsenal for Juventus at the end of the season, showed his class yet again by scoring a wonderful goal. He dodged past Tottenham’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to slot the ball home in the 16th minute of the match. Davinson Sanchez's poor bit of defending allowed the Gunners to take the lead.
This was Ramsey’s 62nd goal for Arsenal in his 361st match for them. Unai Emery started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka playing as a double pivot in the midfield, and Ramsey, Alex Iwobi and Henrik Mkhitaryan playing as attacking midfielders. Alexandre Lacazette started as the lone forward for them.
Arsenal wanted to continue their good run in today’s match also, after having beaten Bournemouth 5-1 in their previous Premier League game on Wednesday. They got the desired start today also and looked the better team for the first 30 minutes of the match.
Ramsey showed flashes of brilliance, but could not quite dictate terms in the midfield. Lacazette also had a quiet match, missing a glorious chance in the second half before being substituted.
Ozil did come in in the second half, but could not make much of a difference in the match.