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Arsenal travelled to Wembley to face Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby on Saturday, with a lot more than just pride at stake. It was a contest between third and fourth in the Premier League and the two sides were separated by just 4 points.
It was also a battle between two sides with contrasting recent fortunes. Arsenal had thumped Bournemouth 5-1 in midweek and as such, were on the rise. Tottenham, on the other hand, had lost 0-2 to Chelsea and were low on confidence after two back to back defeats. As such, Emery had a golden opportunity ahead of him to strengthen his team’s position in the league, while Pochettino would have been looking forward to bouncing back against one of his fiercest rivals.
The game started on a high tempo and Arsenal took the lead in the 16th minute through Aaron Ramsey. However, Tottenham drew level in the 76th minute, when Kane scored from the spot. Arsenal had a chance to regain their lead in the dying moments of the game, but Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang failed to convert a penalty.
The match ended in a draw and here are 5 Takeaways from the game:
#5 Arsenal Reacted well to Tottenham’s high line
Pochettino started with a back three of Davinson Sanchez, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, hoping to isolate Arsenal’s front three. It was an attempt from the Argentinean manager to nullify the threat posed by the Arsenal forward players, and in the early stages of the game, it seemed to work.
Lacazette was isolated by Sanchez, while Alderweireld and Vertonghen attended to the wide men. But as the home team grew in confidence, the two Belgian defenders moved up to help break Arsenal down. Tottenham started playing a high line and Emery saw an opportunity to take advantage of.
Even under intense pressure from the home team, Emery opted to keep both Ramsey and Lacazette near the Tottenham defence, hoping to catch them on the counter. The opportunity arrived in the 16th minute, with a high ball from Xhaka from his own box. After Sanchez’s error handed the French striker the ball, he set Ramsey free from the halfway line. The Welshman made no mistake, running half the length of the field and rounding off Lloris to open the scoring.
#4 Gunners Kept a close watch on Eriksen
Christian Eriksen is Tottenham’s engine room, he is the heart of Pochettino’s team and everything good that happens in this Spurs team almost always has his magic touch in it. As such, Emery knew that to stop Spurs, he had to stop Eriksen. But it was easier said than done.
The Dane likes to drift behind the strikers and tends to pop up across the front line, making it very difficult to mark him. He also likes to operate in the area between the midfield and the defence, and it is from here that he picks out the final balls that break open defences
Emery set his team out accordingly, putting Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi very close to his back four and denying the Dane any room to thread those passes. Other players chipped in whenever required and apart from that one moment that he broke away and almost scored, Eriksen had a relatively quiet outing. He was not afforded time on the ball and failed to influence the game.
#3 Controversial Penalty saves Tottenham
Before the penalty was awarded, Tottenham were knocking at Arsenal's door, but had failed to break down a resolute Gunners defence. And perhaps the penalty was that one slice of luck that Pochettino required.
Replays suggested that Harry Kane was already offside when Eriksen sent in the free kick. The English striker and several others were beyond the Arsenal line, however, the linesman in the far corner failed to spot the breach. Had that been awarded, it would have been a totally different story.
But even without the decision, referee Anthony Taylor awarded a pretty soft penalty. Mustafi barged into Kane’s back just as the Englishman was launching himself towards the ball, and the referee deemed it an offence serious enough to award a spot kick. Harry Kane picked up the ball and sent Leno the other way.
The penalty brought Tottenham right back into the game, and gave them a boost of confidence they required and coupled with Lloris' save, helped them secure a draw.
#2 Arsenal should have won the game
After taking the lead as early as the 16th minute, Arsenal were in control of the game. They looked prepared to handle everything that Spurs threw at them, and did not looked threatened at any moment in the game. The first half ended 1-0 and it could have easily been the score at the end of the game.
However, even though the away side looked solid at the back in the second half as well, they were undone by a poor decision from the referee. Tottenham were awarded a penalty and Harry Kane brought them level. All of a sudden, Spurs looked on the rise and the Gunners huffed and puffed to match up to the adrenaline of the home side.
In an interesting turn of events, Gunners were awarded a penalty late in the game. Replays suggested it was another soft decision, but it did give the away side a chance to secure the win that they deserved. Unfortunately for the Gunners, Aubameyang’s penalty was saved easily by Hugo Lloris and the game ended 1-1. Emery will be ruing the missed chance and it could affect Arsenal’s position in the table as well.
#1 Manchester United could benefit from the draw
As the game ended with the score at 1-1, there were a lot of implications of the draw. The gap between the two North London rivals remained at 4 points, and neither were benefited by the result. For Tottenham, it meant that a title challenge was all but over. It also indicated that their position at 3rd in the Premier League was in real threat now.
For the Gunners, it was a disappointing outing when they were let down by a poor referring decision and missed chances. They lost significant pace in the race to the Champions League spots and failed to get close to the third place. But while both Tottenham and Arsenal shared the spoils, there was someone else who could reap the benefits from the draw.
Manchester United, before their game against Southampton, were 2 points behind Arsenal and 6 points behind Spurs. A win later on Saturday could lift them to 4th position and bring them to within 3 points of Spurs at 3rd place.
