Most had said it was a chance for Tottenham. They had argued that, with Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, their inspiration and their soul, injured and suspended, Mikel Arteta’s team would never be more vulnerable. This north London derby was Spurs’ moment.
But Arteta disagreed. He had said the game was a chance for Arsenal, a chance to prove they could beat their biggest rivals even when exhausted, a chance to resist the temptation to make excuses, a chance to stand up.
Arsenal heeded Arteta’s call. They survived a frantic, scrappy first half in which they sometimes felt outgunned in midfield and were grateful for Spurs’ inability to capitalise on some of the good chances they did create.
And then, in the 64th minute, Gabriel rose highest from a corner to head a powerful header past Guglielmo Vicario to win the game. Spurs huffed and puffed for the rest of the second half, but it never looked like they would get an equaliser. North London were shown another red card.
The win moves Arteta’s side up to second in the table and ends a nasty draw with Brighton two weeks ago, when Rice was sent off for his second yellow card for delaying half-time.
Gabriel rose highest to head in a corner and put Arsenal ahead just after the hour mark
The Brazilian’s header prompted cheering scenes among the travelling Arsenal supporters
Tempers flared in the first half when several stars were shown a yellow card
More pertinently, it felt like a major reiteration of their title credentials. They know from bitter experience that there can be no excuses and a minimum of dropped points, whether at home to Leicester or away at Spurs, if they are to have any chance of dethroning Manchester City.
That was their mantra at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. No excuses. They didn’t look for any and they didn’t need any. They might not have been able to call themselves the better team because there wasn’t much difference between the two. But Arsenal won and that was all that mattered. They won and now they have to keep winning.
This victory was also a morale-boosting triumph for the strength of their team. Jorginho and Gabriel Martinelli came in for Rice and Odegaard and played their part in laying the foundation for the victory. Gabriel and William Saliba were the best players on the pitch.
It’s too early to say that Ange Postecoglou is under real pressure at Spurs, despite winning just one of their first four games. Their summer signing Dominic Solanke missed their best chance in the first half, but they weren’t bad. They’re good enough and ambitious enough that the results will start to come.
Spurs had made a promising start. Solanke, back from injury, used a run from Heung-Min Son as a diversion before pushing down the left and passing the ball to the Spurs captain. Son’s cut-back found Dejan Kulusevski and his shot was saved by David Raya.
Spurs should have taken the lead when their relentless high pressing forced the Arsenal defence into what should have been a costly error. Arsenal attempted a pass from the back but when the ball was turned towards Solanke with only Raya to beat, he hesitated and gave time for a saving tackle.
Shortly afterwards, Saliba was shown a yellow card for delaying the restart after a foul by Arsenal. After what happened to Rice two weeks ago, you would think Arsenal would have learned that lesson by now.
Arsenal gradually began to gain a foothold in the game. Vicario threw his head to his left to clear a powerful header from Kai Havertz and if Martinelli had passed to Bukayo Saka instead of trying to score himself a few minutes later, the visitors would have been ahead.
Gabriel roars with joy after scoring what turned out to be the winning goal for Arsenal
Arteta and his team applaud their loud away fans after their narrow 1-0 win over Spurs
The Spaniard celebrated with his coaching team after achieving their third victory of the season
The game was now fast and fluid. Son ran at Ben White and passed to James Maddison. Maddison curled the ball to the far post where Solanke forced himself in front of his defender and fired a header across the face of goal which went painfully wide.
Jurrien Timber was shown a yellow card for a foul on Pedro Porro and Porro’s hysterical reaction sparked a brawl that saw Vicario cautioned for attempting to exact some sort of retaliation, raising the temperature of an already feverish affair.
There were no goals before half-time, but there were more yellow cards. Micky van de Ven and Kulusevski were cautioned in quick succession, bringing the total to seven, a Premier League record for a first half. Postecoglou staggered around his technical line with his head in his hands, as if in disbelief.
The game became even more grueling after the break. There was even a lull in the bookings. Raya tried to copy Manchester City’s tactics on Saturday by bypassing the press with a long ball up front. City had Erling Haaland to target but Raya could only pick out Saka, who was marked by Van de Ven. It was no contest.
Saka soon found another way to impress, curling in a corner midway through the half that was driven into the box with speed. Gabriel pushed Romero while the ball was in the air, then rose unhindered to send his close-range header past Vicario.
Postecoglou looks on after yet another defeat for Tottenham in the North London derby
Tottenham huffed and puffed but simply couldn’t get past Arsenal’s defence
Arsenal have now scored 23 goals from set pieces in the Premier League since the start of last season, the most of any team, and it felt for much of the game as if the deciding goal would come here too.
Raheem Sterling replaced Martinelli ten minutes from time to make his Arsenal debut, reminding everyone watching that Arsenal have made a habit of signing smart players in recent times to boost their title chances.
This was a collective victory, the kind of victory that adds momentum and steel to a challenge for a City team that shows no signs of cracking. That’s why Arsenal’s victory here on enemy territory, and the steely manner in which it came, was so important.
