Arsenal battled to an impressive 1-0 away victory against Tottenham Hotspur, making it three in a row at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the Gunners against their archrivals. It wasn’t the prettiest performance from Mikel Arteta’s bunch, but to a man, they gave every ounce of what they had. They fought for every inch. They tore themselves and everyone around them to pieces for that inch. They clawed with their fingernails for that inch. And it made the difference between winning and losing.
The Gunners trotted out a midfield trio of Thomas Partey, Jorginho, and Leandro Trossard with Declan Rice suspended and Martin Ødegaard injured (and five other first team players not available for selection). Not exactly the athleticism and physicality you’d hope for against a Spurs team that presses hard and plays fast. But they more or less held their own and while their physical limitations were apparent at times, they, and their teammates around them, covered well enough. Kai Havertz, even while leading the line, had a lot to do with it. That man never stops running.
Gabriel, William Saliba, and Jurrien Timber were magnificent. The Brazilian scored the lone goal of the match with a towering header and put in block after block in the Arsenal box. Gabriel now has the most set piece goals in the Premier League since 2020-21. William Saliba picked up an early yellow card for carrying the ball away after a foul, something that went unpunished on several different occasions in other matches this weekend, and didn’t miss a tick. He was as calm, cool, and collected as he always is.
And Jurrien Timber, my word. He was excellent going forward and almost as good defensively as both of the centerbacks. I was most impressed by his control of the space between him and his attacker. Time and again he got the distances exactly right, forcing the attacker to try to go wide (or turn back), and putting in the tackle / block as needed. He could do with a bit of work on aerial duels, though.
Ben White wasn’t at his best on the ball, but he didn’t make any errors defensively, which is the most important part when playing in an away derby. You could say similar things of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli. They weren’t at their best going forward but worked their behinds off without the ball. I’m actually somewhat encouraged by the Martinelli performance. We know that the end product is hit and miss with him, but he was involved and had Pedro Porro on skates in the first half. If teams are going to shade towards the Arsenal right, you need the left to punish them for it. From where I stand, Arsenal got closer to that today. As long as the chances keep coming, the goals will eventually come.
Tottenham, on the other hand, fall to 1-1-2 on the season and the loud voices that were braying about how close Spurs were to Arsenal have fallen silent as the grave. Ange Postecoglou deployed an attacking-minded lineup that didn’t do much attacking. Spurs had nearly 64% possession but could only create 0.7 xG, same as Arsenal. Their attack was reduced to mostly firing in hopeful crosses from wide that were easy for David Raya to claim or sailed harmlessly beyond the danger area.
James Maddison was rendered irrelevant by Arsenal’s 2nd (3rd? 4th?) choice midfield. Son Heung-min was on the pitch, but you’d be forgiven for not noticing him. He did absolutely nothing. It was the most uninvolved and un-impactful I’ve ever seen him in a match. Spurs spent £47.5M on Brennan Johnson last summer and he was shut down by a guy (Jurrien Timber) who had played fewer than 200 Premier League minutes coming into today. £60M signing Dominic Solanke’s best moment was a looping, contested header in the first half that fell harmlessly wide.
If I were a Spurs fan, I’d be beside myself. They’re miles behind Arsenal and off to their worst start to a season in 9 years. Based on today’s performances, I don’t think any of their players would start for a healthy Arsenal squad right now.
I’d also be a little miffed about the Arsenal goal. Gabriel freed himself up with a bump and a slight shove on Cristian Romero. It was the kind of thing in the box that usually doesn’t get called — players bump, jostle, and grab on every corner. Every now and then, something like it gets called, and when it does, you can’t really complain about it being given. But really, Romero needs to be more aware and stronger, and Vicario absolutely has to come contest that corner in the air.
Fair play to Jarred Gillett, too. People were unhappy with him handing out a Premier League record 7 yellow cards in the first half. But I think they were mostly fine calls. As I said, you don’t see the Saliba card given all that often. I’m not sure the Jurrien Timber card was even a foul. Some will tell you it was a red card challenge. Tottenham’s yellows were mostly deserved. They did a lot of professional fouling to slow breaks and committed their infractions from behind, both of which should be carded more often than not. To Gillett’s credit, the match looked close to boiling over at points and he kept it under control. His tight calling of the first half led to a second half without much incident. The players knew what they couldn’t do, adjusted, and played a clean second half. It’s tremendously pleasing to have a big match where the referee wasn’t the focal point of the contest.
Ethan Nwaneri is ready. He came on late for an “injured” Bukayo Saka (who I suspect will be fine come Thursday) and was not awed by the occasion. Nwaneri always seems to be on and around the ball. And he does good things with it, too.
I’m a little disappointed with Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling. They didn’t do much with their substitute minutes. Sterling strayed offside twice, and Gabriel Jesus made a particularly poor decision to dribble the ball into the middle of three players in the center and lose it. He’d have been much better off taking it down the wing and deeper towards the corner. To be fair, it’s tough to be an attacking sub up 1-0 in an away derby. I’m not concerned about either, but I would have liked to see better decisions from veteran players.
Arsenal have conceded 1 goal in 4 matches this season and none with 11 men on the pitch. Bukayo Saka has a goal contribution in 4 of 4 games so far. A 1-0 away derby win is an excellent response to a disappointing, controversial home draw before the break and a fantastic start to a challenging week. The Gunners travel to Bergamo to face Atalanta in the Champions League on Thursday before a trip to Manchester City next Sunday.
North London is RED.