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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Scott Murray

Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened

Granit Xhaka fires Arsenal into a 3-1 lead.
Granit Xhaka fires Arsenal into a 3-1 lead. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

More reaction and analysis

Finally, a reminder that Nick Ames’ report is live. Read! Engage! Discuss! Thanks for reading this MBM.

A very happy Mikel Arteta talks to BT. “The players were phenomenal. From the beginning we went for it. We had amazing support. We created a great energy in the stadium. We deserved to win the game. We were free, we were courageous, we were brave. You could feel the connection between the players, the staff and the crowd. I am so happy, it was a beautiful day and a beautiful game. I think we made a lot of our supporters happy and proud. It gives us a lot of encouragement and confidence that we can play at this level. A big game.”

Antonio Conte speaks to BT Sport. “The first half was in balance. We had many chances to score. We made a big mistake in the last pass. We had great space and great chances. In the second half we conceded early. We could do much better. Then the red card ended the game. It was really difficult for us, we had to change totally the situation. I don’t want to comment on the referee’s decision. When you lose, you have to justify. In the first half we had opportunities. We made big, big mistakes in the last pass. Easy passes. We have to move on. We have to try to stay close with the other teams at the top.”

Nick Ames was at the Emirates. His report has landed. Here it is!

Granit Xhaka speaks to BT Sport. “We saw yesterday in training that we were ready. We knew exactly what we wanted. From the first second, we were the better team. In the second half, we were much better. It was my first derby goal in England, I am happy, but the most important is the team.”

Gabriel Jesus adds: “I think we deserved to win. We wanted to play the game, make chances. I feel at home. I’m really happy here and think we are in a good way.”

A deserved win for Arsenal, who look set for a proper title challenge. Spurs were outplayed for most of the game, though looked dangerous on the break in the first half, when they could easily have plundered another goal or two. But the second half was nothing short of a disaster for them. Emerson’s challenge on Martinelli looked clumsy, rather than malicious, but when studs connect with ankle, it’s only ever going to end one way. In any case, Arsenal had established their dominance before his dismissal: Zinchenko, Jesus, Martinelli, Odegaard and Xhaka were all excellent. By contrast, Spurs pretty much to a man had a bad day at the office. Still, once the sting of defeat dies down, can console themselves with the fact that they’re still only four off the Premier League pace.

Pos Team P GD Pts
1 Arsenal 8 12 21
2 Man City 7 17 17
3 Tottenham Hotspur 8 9 17
4 Brighton 6 6 13
5 Man Utd 6 0 12

HANDSHAKE WATCH: Arteta and Conte shake in the friendly style. Dier and Kane aren’t so happy, giving the referee their views on the sending off.

Updated

FULL TIME: Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Martinelli curls the free kick over the bar, and the whistle goes. Arsenal extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points. Tottenham’s 13-match unbeaten run comes to an end.

90 min +3: Dier is booked for a tug on Nketiah’s shoulder. A free kick just to the left of the Spurs box.

90 min +2: The second of three added minutes goes by without incident. On BT Sport, Martin Keown names Granit Xhaka as man of the match. Seems fair enough. He’s had a great game.

90 min +1: Nothing comes of the corner, though in the middle of a packed box, Saliba manages to nutmeg Skipp, which entertains the home crowd.

90 min: Arsenal ping a few passes together, then Tierney finds himself in a pocket of space, 30 yards out. He sends a low swerver towards the bottom right, and Lloris does very well to turn it around the post. Corner.

89 min: Arsenal make their final change. Tomiyasu replaces White.

87 min: On the touchline, Arteta waves his arms around hysterically, as though his team were 3-1 down, not a man and 3-1 up. Conte by contrast is subdued and pensive. Penny to be a fly on the wall when he discusses the red card with Emerson.

85 min: Martinelli comes sliding in on Doherty, and goes into the book.

84 min: Arsenal continue to pass it around patiently.

82 min: It’s an attack-versus-defence session now. What Spurs would give to hear the final whistle. The closing period of the first half, with this match in the balance, seems a lifetime ago now.

80 min: Arsenal make a couple more changes. Odegaard and Jesus make way for Vieira and Nketiah.

78 min: Dier takes a touch to tee up Kane, whose drive is blocked by Jesus. A small chink of light immediately blocked out. Tottenham’s frustration increases.

77 min: Bentancur blazes down the inside-left channel and is cynically blocked by Saliba, who goes into the book. Free kick just to the left of centre, 25 yards out, and you never know.

75 min: Skipp comes on for Hojbjerg.

74 min: Gabriel is bundled over from behind by Kane, who then rather petulantly leaves a boot in. He could certainly have avoided doing so. You’ve seen players sent off for less. England captain privileges.

73 min: Arsenal respond by a couple of like-for-like switches: Zinchenko and Partey, both feeling their way back from injury, are replaced by Tierney and Lokonga.

72 min: It’s damage limitation from Conte, who makes four changes. Son, Richarlison, Perisic and Lenglet make way for Doherty, Sessegnon, Bissouma and Sanchez. Bolstering the defence very much in mind.

Good luck, lads.
Good luck, lads. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

Updated

71 min: Zinchenko and Martinelli combine down the left to release Saka, whose low drilled cross is shinned away from danger by Perisic.

69 min: Spurs are all over the shop. Arsenal swarm them. Martinelli once more makes his way down the left, but his low cross is deflected through to Lloris. The Emirates is bouncing. This could be a long final 20 minutes for Spurs.

Delight for Granit Xhaka.
Delight for Granit Xhaka. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

Updated

GOAL! Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Xhaka 67)

Martinelli drifts in from the left. He leaves the ball for Xhaka, on the edge of the box. He shifts his feet to make some space. He takes a touch to the left, then forensically rolls across Lloris and into the bottom right! Arsenal in total control now!

Granit Xhaka scores to make it 3-1.
Granit Xhaka scores to make it 3-1. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

66 min: Saka sashays in from the right and curls powerfully towards the top left. Always heading wide.

65 min: Martinelli proves he’s fine by elegantly dancing down the left for the umpteenth time, and sending a cross in that only just evades Jesus.

64 min: That was pretty stupid from Emerson. Thankfully Martinelli isn’t seriously injured – he initially went down in worrying fashion – and is good to continue.

RED CARD! Emerson (Tottenham Hotspur)

62 min: Martinelli tracks back to help out his defence. He’s dribbling down the flank, towards his own byline. Emerson comes in from behind and plants his studs on Martinelli’s ankle. The referee has a think, then shows him a straight red. Serious foul play.

Gabriel Martinelli is down after being hacked but Emerson.
Gabriel Martinelli is down after being hacked but Emerson. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

60 min: Xhaka sends a diagonal into the Spurs box from the right. Jesus rises at the far post, but his downward header is claimed on the line by Lloris.

59 min: Richarlison skedaddles down the right and cuts back for Son. The pass isn’t any good, behind the intended target, but rolls into the path of the in-rushing Hojbjerg. The Spurs midfielder looks to repeat the Partey trick, but slaps a poor effort miles wide right and high.

57 min: Arsenal are utterly dominant right now. We’re back to the early stages of the first half. Spurs can’t keep hold of the ball.

55 min: … and now he’s back up and running. All OK.

54 min: Jesus stays down. Seconds before the missed chance, he’d cut in from the left and was clipped by Dier. He wanted a penalty but both referee and VAR saw it as a fair coming together. Anyway, whatever it was, he’s felt it.

53 min: Saka slips White into space on the overlap down the right. White dinks a cross into the middle. Jesus sends his downward header wide left, with the goal at his mercy. It should be 3-1.

51 min: As if falling behind again isn’t bad enough news for Spurs, how about this for a stat: Jesus is unbeaten in all of the previous 50 Premier League matches in which he’s scored. He’s won 47 of those matches! Spurs respond by winning a corner, but it proves a bit of a non-event.

GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Jesus 49)

Saka cuts in from the right, opens his body, and shoots towards the bottom left. Lloris parries but can’t claim. The ball breaks to Jesus, who bundles home from six yards! Lloris probably should have smothered the rebound, but let the ball squirt through his hands and under his body. What opportunism from Jesus, though!

Jesus pounces to give the Gunners the lead.
Jesus pounces to give the Gunners the lead. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

48 min: Saka yet again makes ground down the right and pulls back for Partey, who attempts to replicate the goal. He’s blocked this time. That’s the third time Spurs have allowed Arsenal to set up Partey for a shot like that.

47 min: Spurs instantly go Total Football. Kane drops deep to rake a long pass down the right for Romero! The Spurs centre-back enters the Arsenal box but doesn’t back himself to shoot, allowing Saliba to come across and close him down.

Arsenal get the second half underway. No changes. Here’s Chris Cusack: “I’m a 43-year-old Spurs fan and although Conte’s style is not to my liking I love how he’s transformed us into serial winners (sic). I reckon there’s a chance we’ll win the league in the next 40 years, something I had never thought possible.” That counts as reckless optimism for a Spurs fan, doesn’t it.

Half-time entertainment. While we’re on the subject of hotly contested derbies …

HALF TIME: Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

That was great fun. All Arsenal for a while, then Spurs came roaring back. Both teams could easily have had a couple more. The second half can’t come soon enough!

45 min +1: The first of two extra minutes. Richarlison tries to outGarrincha Jesus, cutting into the Arsenal box from the right. But Jesus isn’t having it, and chases back to stop his fellow Brazilian in his tracks.

45 min: Zinchenko crosses from the left. Jesus doesn’t really connect with his flick-on, Saka doesn’t really connect with his shot on goal. Easy for Lloris, but that should have been more than just half a chance.

43 min: Odegaard slips Jesus away down the inside-left channel. Jesus channels his inner Garrincha, dropping a shoulder to zip past Emerson, then shaking his hips to see off Romero. He reaches the edge of the six-yard box and pokes goalwards. Lloris is positioned well to block. What a goal that would have been!

41 min: Richarlison takes a fresh-air header. Fresh-air shots are ten a penny, but you don’t see those so often.

39 min: White sends a looping diagonal towards Martinelli and Xhaka on the edge of the six-yard box. The Arsenal pair get in each other’s way and Spurs clear. Arsenal come again, Martinelli winning a corner. Spurs deal with that too. Good luck guessing which team scores next.

37 min: This game is gloriously open. A corner for Spurs. Perisic swings it in from the right. Ramsdale is forced to claw it away from under the bar. Saka wins a corner up the other end. Spurs defend it, then counter through Perisic down the left. Perisic crosses deep. Kane sends a soft header into the arms of Ramsdale. Spurs are suddenly right in this game, after their slow start.

35 min: Kane’s goal makes him the all-time Premier League scorer in London derbies. His 44th goal one more than Thierry Henry. Teddy Sheringham and Frank Lampard are next on the list with 32.

34 min: Arsenal suddenly look a little jittery, and the Spurs press is on. Son and Richarlison bother Saliba, who amid the mayhem does extremely well to spin away from both opponents and dribble away from danger.

32 min: Before Arsenal restart the match, the referee brings Richarlison and Gabriel together for a calming chinwag. That was Kane’s 100th Premier League goal on the road.

GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Kane 31 pen)

… gives Ramsdale the eyes. Ramsdale dives to his right, and Kane Panenkas down the middle. Ice in the veins, especially as he had to wait a while to take it!

Harry Kane scores from the spot.
Harry Kane scores from the spot. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

Penalty for Spurs!

30 min: Son should release Richarlison into the Arsenal box, but pushes his team-mate wide right with the pass. No matter, because Richarlison retrieves the ball and crosses. Saliba’s clearing header isn’t great, and Xhaka’s attempt to trap is awful. The ball falls back to Richarlison, who is soon clumsily upended by Gabriel. A lifeline for Spurs! Kane steps up, and …

Gabriel fouls Richarlison to concede the penalty.
Gabriel fouls Richarlison to concede the penalty. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

28 min: … and yet Spurs could easily have had a couple of goals themselves. Ramsdale denied Richarlison earlier, and now Son sends Perisic into acres down the left. Perisic blazes high and wide when he should have hit the target. Had he done so, Ramsdale would have had to pull out a worldie to save it.

27 min: Martinelli and Jesus ping high-speed triangles down the inside left. Suddenly Jesus is in! But he hesitates before attempting to shoot from a tight angle, and the chance is gone. Arsenal are playing very well, and much of it is extremely easy on the eye.

25 min: Saka, White, Partey … they piece together exactly the same move that led to the goal. But this time Partey doesn’t shoot first time. He’s crowded out. There were 22 passes before the goal, by the way. Patience paid off, all right.

24 min: Richarlison turns neatly to find a bit of space in the centre circle, then wedges a clever pass down the inside-left channel for Son. For a second, it looks as though Son is in, but Ramsdale reads the danger and comes to the edge of his area to claim.

22 min: That was one hell of a strike. Plenty of oomph behind it, but so much precision and control as well. No more than Arsenal deserve, and bad news for Spurs, who have lost 16 and won only four of their Premier League matches against the Gunners in which they’ve conceded first.

GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Partey 20)

Arsenal’s patience pays off! A period of metronomic passing ends with a crash, as Saka dribbles down the right, pulls back for White, who rolls a pass infield for Partey, racing towards the right-hand edge of the D. Partey opens his body and steers a stunner into the top right. The Emirates erupts!

Thomas Partey strikes to give Arsenal the lead.
Thomas Partey strikes to give Arsenal the lead. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

19 min: Arsenal pass and probe, pass and probe. Some of the old patient possession Arsene used to love. And then …

17 min: Arsenal respond by taking a couple of shots from distance. First up a fairly harmless one from White; then a fizzing daisycutter from Xhaka that sails inches wide of the bottom-right corner. Some effort by Xhaka, who is all pals again with the home crowd. Plenty of appreciative applause.

15 min: Richarlison, plus a few others, looked offside there, at first glance anyway. But the flag stayed down, and it could well have been that White, slightly out of position, was playing everyone on. Had that gone in, VAR would have had to get the old rulers out.

13 min: The free kick is shovelled into the box diagonall from the right by Son. Richarlison steps ahead of Arsenal’s high line, and pokes the dropping ball towards the bottom left. Ramsdale parries brilliantly. Spurs finally bare their teeth.

12 min: Partey fouls an in-flight Richarlison, but the referee gives Spurs the advantage. Emerson romps down the right and slips infield for Kane, who draws a cheap one from Gabriel. A free kick. Spurs load the box.

10 min: Martinelli skips past a sliding Emerson and zips along the left touchline. He then draws Richarlison towards the corner flag, before dinking the ball back upfield, running around the Spurs striker and retrieving it. Glorious skill, but he’s then harshly penalised for running into Emerson, back on the scene. That was audacious.

8 min: Arsenal have enjoyed 77 percent of possession so far. That stat doesn’t surprise at all. Spurs are struggling to string anything together.

6 min: Jesus accidentally kicks Dier in the face. Dier had been stooping extremely low, so you can’t really blame the Arsenal striker for that. Dier’s OK to continue, and Kane hoicks the resulting free kick witlessly out for a goal kick. Spurs haven’t got started at all.

4 min: Saka sends a diagonal into the Spurs box from the right. Xhaka attempts a Giroud-style flick at the far post, his contortions sending the ball out for a goal kick. Spurs can’t get out at the minute.

3 min: Saka crosses long from the right. Martinelli chests down, on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, and batters a shot off the base of the left-hand post! Out for what should be a goal kick … except a corner’s awarded. Martinelli sends it straight out of play.

2 min: Arsenal fly out of the blocks. Odegaard sets the home side on the attack with a cute nutmeg to find Jesus, who feeds Martinelli on the left. He wins a throw. The ball’s flung in long, and flicked on by Xhaka. Lenglet is forced to hack out for a corner. Lloris punches the set piece clear, but not in particularly convincing fashion.

Hugo Lloris in the thick of it as Arsenal start strongly.
Hugo Lloris in the thick of it as Arsenal start strongly. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

Updated

Tottenham Hotspur get the ball rolling. A huge roar cannonballs around the stadium. The north London derby, right here!

The teams are out! Arsenal in red, Spurs in white, the Emirates bubbling away in fevered anticipation. “Arsenal fans’ prayers, candles and animal sacrifices have worked,” begins Charles Antaki. “Both Zinchenko and Partey are fit to play, also Ødegaard. Not to say that one or other, or indeed all of them, might not break down within the first five minutes, but it’s a start.” We’ll be off in a couple of shakes.

Antonio Conte speaks to BT. “In England there are many, many derbies. This is an important derby, but it has to become important for the table, and not only the rivalry. We need to fight for something important in the future. I have picked the formation that is the best start to this run of 13 games.”

Fancy a stroll down Memory Lane N5? A meander along Nostalgia Avenue N17? Let Rob and Simon take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of north London.

Some pre-match reading. Plenty of time before kick-off.

Tottenham’s recent record at Arsenal is not good. Just two wins in 37, the most recent coming in 2010 when they came from two down to snatch victory at the death. Relive that match if you like with some hot retro MBM action! Son Heung-min, back in form after that quickfire hat-trick against Leicester, and with a record of four goals in his last five Premier League matches against Arsenal, is in the mood to slake Tottenham’s 12-year thirst. “It’s tough to listen to this!” he tells BT Sport. “Even when I was away with the national team I was hearing 12 years! It’s tough to hear. Hopefully today will change the history. Everyone has to be ready and it’s going to be a big battle.”

Mikel Arteta talks to BT Sport. “It is the strongest team we believe gives us a chance to win the game. We have managed to recover the players and hope they are in the best possible condition to play. Tottenham are a really dangerous team, we know that. But you cannot allow players to play with the handbrake. We will go in there with full courage and go for it.”

Arsenal make two changes to the starting XI named for the 3-0 victory at Brentford. Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard are back from injury, so Kieran Tierney and Fabio Vieira drop to the bench. Thomas Partey has been passed fit to start.

Tottenham – who have won only two of their last 37 league matches on the patch of their arch-rivals – make three changes to the team that gubbed Leicester 6-2 a couple of weeks ago. Son Heung-min, Cristian Romero and Emerson Royal come in for Ryan Sessegnon and Davinson Sanchez, who drop to the bench, and Dejan Kulusevski, who twanged his hamstring while away with Sweden. Hugo Lloris is OK to play despite injury worries.

Updated

The teams

Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus.
Subs: Tierney, Nketiah, Holding, Tomiyasu, Vieira, Sambi Lokonga, Nelson, Alencar, Turner.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Romero, Dier, Lenglet, Emerson, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Perisic, Richarlison, Son, Kane.
Subs: Doherty, Skipp, Sanchez, Gil Salvatierra, Sessegnon, Forster, Spence, Sarr, Bissouma.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).

Preamble

Does the north London derby need hyping up when the top of the Premier League table looks like this?

Pos Team P GD Pts
1 Arsenal 7 10 18
2 Man City 7 17 17
3 Tottenham Hotspur 7 11 17
4 Brighton 6 6 13

Nope! Kick off is at 12.30pm BST. It’s on!

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