Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Simon Collings

Arsenal player ratings vs Tottenham: Rob Holding caused so many problems, Gabriel caught up in emotion

Arsenal suffered a blow in the race to qualify for the Champions League by losing to their bitter rivals Tottenham.

Harry Kane struck twice in the first-half and then Son Heung-min scored after the break to secure a 3-0 win for Spurs.

Arsenal struggled all night and particularly after Rob Holding was sent off just after the half-hour mark for a second bookable offence.

The win means Tottenham, who are fifth in the Premier League, have now closed the gap on Arsenal in fourth to one point with two games to go.

Simon Collings was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to see Arsenal in action...

Aaron Ramsdale 5

Couldn’t do much about any of the goals in all honesty. Made a few decent saves after Arsenal went 3-0 down to keep it respectable.

Cedric 4

Gave away a penalty midway through the first-half after going into the back of Son. It looked soft, but also needless. Had a tough night.

Rob Holding 3

Sent off after just 33 minutes after picking up two yellow cards. He will argue the second one was soft, but Son was causing him so many problems.

Gabriel 4

Felt like he got caught up in the emotion of the night. Didn’t cover himself in glory for Spurs’ third goal, where he wrestled with Kane and the ball ended up at Son’s feet.

Takehiro Tomiyasu 6

Made one huge block from Kane when he cut in from the left. Probably the best Arsenal player on the night. Filled in at centre-back too.

Martin Odegaard 6

Another of Arsenal’s better players, which is not saying much at all. At least looked vaguely composed on the ball when he had it.

Mohamed Elneny 4

Has been in fine form recently, but had an off-night at a vital moment. Passing was a bit off it and couldn’t break up the game like he usually does.

Granit Xhaka 5

Has been great recently but couldn’t have any influence on the game tonight. Had to shift to defence when Holding was sent off.

Bukayo Saka 5

Probably had Arsenal’s best chance in the second-half, but his shot was blocked by a Spurs defender. Caused Ben Davies problems in the first 20 minutes.

Eddie Nketiah 5

Had a pretty thankless task as he spent most of the game isolated up top playing against three centre-backs. Barely had a sniff.

Gabriel Martinelli 4

A bright start but just never really got into the game all night. Not helped by the fact Arsenal went down to 10 men. Spent the game defending.

Substitutions

Emile Smith Rowe (Martinelli 63’) 5

Came on with just under half an hour to go, but couldn’t get really get into a game that was already dead.

Alexandre Lacazette (Nketiah 73’) 5

Only for the final stages but had a quiet little cameo.

Nuno Tavares (Gabriel 75’) N/A

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.