NORTH LONDON DERBY DELIGHT
A derby is one game where form and momentum go down the drain and the North London Derby epitomizes that sentiment. It is in my opinion the fiercest and best derby in the Premier League.
Arsenal unchanged from the game against Chelsea started the game with caution and some of the touches and interchange of play were pretty loose. Funnily enough, it was another own goal in the NLD that got the scoring underway as Hojbjerg headed into his own net from a wonderfully whipped corner by Saka. Spurs came to life after conceding and could have equalized only for the post and a tight offside call to rescue Arsenal. For all the chaos Spurs created, it was Arsenal who struck again on the counter. It was a wonderful switch of play from Havertz to pick out Saka and his touch to receive the ball in his stride was world-class and the finish was trademark Saka. Arsenal gained a bit more control after going 2-0 up and scored again from a corner with Havertz thumping the header over Vicario’s head into the back of the net. Another brilliant delivery from the corner, this time from Rice, and Arsenal were exploiting Tottenham every time they got a set piece.
Heading into halftime with a 3-0, Arsenal started the second half strong and could have easily added two more on the scoresheet. Despite the missed chances, Arsenal were cruising with 65 minutes on the clock. Then out of nowhere David Raya out of all people miskicks and passes it straight to Romero at the edge of the box who made no mistake in putting the ball into the back of the net. Something about that incident gave me the feeling that the game was about to get tense. And just like that with 5 minutes to 90, Spurs got another lifeline. This time a penalty was conceded by Rice who mistimed his kick and took out Ben Davies instead of the ball. Every Arsenal fan’s heartbeat would have been racing at an abnormal rate watching the final 10 minutes of the game but Raya and Rice after making those errors were immensely calm. Raya collected every single cross and Rice won every duel making sure we saw the game out.
Arsenal have won back-to-back games against Spurs (away) for the first time since the 80s and a win over your local rivals is always sweet but this one was extra special because Spurs desperately wanted to ruin Arsenal’s title charge. Success for Spurs is always dependent on Arsenal’s failure and for that very reason, they will forever remain in Arsenal’s shadow.
