Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1: More set-piece joy for Arteta’s side in intense north London derby

By
James BAOUCH
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A depleted Arsenal side recorded a vital win against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

The first half contained the level of intensity — if not the white vs red shirts — you expect from this fixture, with referee Jarred Gillett handing out seven yellow cards (five for the home side) in the opening 45 minutes, equalling the Premier League record for a first half (less than a day after Bournemouth vs Chelsea produced a total of 14 bookings).

The best chance of a goalless opening fell to Gabriel Martinelli, but he shot straight at Guglielmo Vicario. It was a comfortable moment for a goalkeeper who spent much of the half looking decidedly uncertain at set pieces.

And that set-piece susceptibility came back to haunt Spurs midway through the second half: an unchallenged Gabriel headed home from four yards to put Arsenal 1-0 up. Mikel Arteta’s side then stood firm against Spurs’ pressure as the clock ran down to seal a massive three points, and a third successive win at their arch-rivals’ home.

Here, our writers analyse some of the key moments from the game.

A huge win for Arsenal

Travelling to take on Manchester City next Sunday already four points behind would have placed a huge amount of pressure on them to avoid defeat. Arsenal’s squad know all too well that seven points is a mile back when chasing Pep Guardiola’s team.

That’s why this victory — with their entire first-choice midfield missing and the stakes already ratcheting up — was so vital for Arteta’s men. It keeps Arsenal within touching distance and kickstarts their season after the disappointment of the 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break.


Gabriel celebrates his winner (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

The resilience they showed when soaking up Tottenham pressure, the work rate that both wingers put into their defensive responsibilities and the adaptability Jorginho and Thomas Partey displayed to make up for their ageing legs are intangibles that will add belief to this team.

Jordan Campbell

A wasted opportunity for Tottenham?

With Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Declan Rice unavailable, Spurs had an opportunity to beat Arsenal for the first time since May 2022. There were some encouraging signs in the first half as Dominic Solanke linked up with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski nicely. Solanke kept dropping off Gabriel and William Saliba who did not know whether to follow him and who was responsible if so.

As can be seen from the graphic below, Spurs dominated possession and territory.

They lost their momentum midway through the first half, however, and never truly looked like reclaiming it. Arsenal’s stubborn 4-4-2 shape was difficult to break down in the second half and there were multiple occasions when Maddison had no other option but to hit a hopeful cross into the box.

This was a better performance compared to the last time these two teams met, when Arsenal were leading 3-0 at half-time. It will sting that Arsenal scored from another set piece but that was more down to Cristian Romero switching off (and Vicario failing to impose himself) than any structural failure.


(Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

Tottenham have improved under Postecoglou but this leaves them with four points from as many games. They have lost to Newcastle and Arsenal, two teams they want to compete with towards the top of the table and for Champions League qualification.

This felt like another harsh lesson that hopefully Postecoglou’s young side will learn from.

Jay Harris

Another lapse of concentration from Romero?

Reports in this morning’s newspapers suggested that Real Madrid had sent a scout to the north London derby to assess whether Tottenham’s Romero or Arsenal’s William Saliba would be a worthwhile transfer target. Based on this game — and, in truth, based on the last year — Romero comes off worse, and worse in comparison to Micky van de Ven too.

Romero is the type of centre-back who catches the eye. He is aggressive. He is committed. He gets the crowd going. He puts in crunching tackles. He runs through brick walls — even if the brick wall isn’t actually in his way. But he’s also not a particularly great defender. The Argentinian is a World Cup winner, granted — but it’s worth remembering that so was Leeds United flop Roque Junior.

Romero was both outwitted and then (more embarrassingly) wound up by Leicester’s Jamie Vardy in a game Tottenham clearly should have won but drew 1-1. He’s been very heavily involved in the opposition box in a 4-0 win over Everton — the kind of meat-and-potatoes opposition that suits him — including heading in the third goal.


(David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

In the 2-1 loss to Newcastle, he was partly responsible for the first goal and for the second, when he simply didn’t bother running back as Alexander Isak sprinted in behind. He ended up 30 yards behind the Newcastle goalscorer. Here, his defending against Gabriel — always Arsenal’s main threat at set pieces — was hopeless. He was the wrong side, got outmuscled and seemed to be aware of neither man nor ball.

Van de Ven’s recovery pace is rightly considered a key part of Tottenham’s gameplan, but it’s partly so important because he’s playing alongside a defender who doesn’t seem to know how to defend. If Madrid are genuinely interested, Spurs should be delighted.

Michael Cox

A predictably… intense match

There is always going to be tension when these teams meet, and Jurrien Timber always seemed to be at the heart of it on Sunday.

In the first 15 minutes, he had a flare-up with Brennan Johnson that ended with them both in a heap on the floor — but that was nothing compared to what happened just after the half an hour mark.

The Netherlands international tackled Dejan Kulusevski while he was on the floor and then won the loose ball from Pedro Porro. Tottenham’s right-back went down in pain but Timber carried on, burst into the box and won a corner. Romero recklessly wiped out his own team-mate Kulusevski in his desperation to take down Timber and gain revenge for Porro.


(Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Vicario then rushed over to Timber and squared up with him. Despite Vicario’s size advantage, Timber did not back down and grabbed the goalkeeper by the scruff of his shirt.

Players from both teams then rushed over to try to defuse the situation, which ended with Vicario and Timber being booked. There were lots of other little skirmishes, too, including when Van de Ven fouled Leandro Trossard, who howled in pain.

As usual, the north London derby delivered on drama.

Jay Harris

Arsenal’s defensive organisation was spot-on

Defending against Postecoglou’s Tottenham in a low block isn’t the easiest of tasks. The wide combinations between the winger, full-back and No 8 make it a tedious task, and the dynamism of their movement and rotations only makes it harder.

In the first half of this north London derby, Arsenal’s defensive organisation limited that threat. Defending out of a 4-4-2 with Partey and Jorginho behind Kai Havertz and Trossard, one of Arsenal’s wingers would drop to form a situational back five towards the side where Tottenham are trying to attack while the other would tuck in next to the double pivot to minimise the space.

Meanwhile, Saliba and Gabriel were alert to switch markers with Arsenal’s double pivot when Solanke dropped deeper and Tottenham were searching for runners in behind the defence. In addition, Partey and Jorginho dropped to fill in the gaps in the defensive line.


(Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arsenal needed David Raya only once in open play in the first half when Tottenham combined down the left and played a cutback to Dejan Kulusevski, but transitional moments looked dangerous.

In the second half, it was expected that Tottenham would increase the pressure, especially after Gabriel put Arsenal in the lead, but more blocks and Raya being in position to save more shots earned Arsenal a deserved victory.

Ahmed Walid

What did Ange Postecoglou say?

The Tottenham manager spoke at length when asked about his team’s record at set-pieces. “For some reason people think I don’t care about set-pieces and it is a narrative you can keep going with for ages and ages. I understand that,” he said.

“We work on them all the time like any other team we know they are a threat. For the most part we handled them really well but we switched off for one and we paid the price. You learn from that and move on. It is what it is. It is my burden to carry and I’m happy to do it.

“There’s a bigger picture that’s at play here that is much more important than the finer details of us getting to where we want to. For us the way forward is to try to turn the football we are playing now into something meaningful.

What did Mikel Arteta say?

The Arsenal manager was delighted with the maturity his side showed in Sunday’s game. 

“After the international break, we had a few blows,” Arteta said to BBC Sport. “How the team reacted was magnificent. It showed a lot of maturity from the team.

“When they (Spurs) get into the final third, it’s very difficult because they have a structure. We were missing vital players and we had to react to that. I’m very pleased.

‘We had to adjust and use different players and qualities. I was hoping they would do something with the ball and we did it. Sometimes better than others. They are a really good side.

“When we have to defend in deeper areas, we did it really well. There are things to improve but we have another victory here and it’s huge. I know how our supporters will feel about this so enjoy it.”

What next for Tottenham?

Wednesday, September 18: Coventry City (A), Carabao Cup, 8pm BST, 3pm ET

What next for Arsenal?

Thursday, September 19: Atalanta (A), Champions League, 8pm BST, 3pm ET

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(Top photo: Getty Images)



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