FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – Arsenal secured a third-successive win away at rivals Tottenham with a 1-0 victory on Sunday.
Gabriel came up with the game’s only goal to ensure the Gunners began a gauntlet run of fixtures with three points in the Premier League.
The result means Arsenal have now won more games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium than Spurs at the Emirates Stadium.
How the game unfolded
David Raya was forced into his first save of the game inside five minutes when Son Heung-min’s cutback reached Dejan Kulusevski, who was denied at the near post by the Spanish goalkeeper.
Tottenham were again thwarted by Raya when he leapt across to palm away Kulusevski’s cross-cum-shot in the opening exchanges.
Arsenal were looking dangerous in transition. Kai Havertz had the visitors’ first chance, rising high to head a cross towards the bottom corner, needing a save from Guglielmo Vicario and a block from Cristian Romero to keep the ball out.
Another opportunity on the break came when Gabriel Martinelli raced away from Pedro Porro, but again Vicario came to Spurs’ rescue.
The hosts threatened again as James Maddison dug out a cross to Dominic Solanke, whose header bounced an inch wide of the post.
After the break, Maddison was the creator again for Tottenham as this time his cross from a short corner was flicked on by Micky van de Ven, though this was more comfortable for Raya to deal with.
On 64 minutes, Arsenal went in front. Bukayo Saka’s in-swinging corner found Gabriel, who headed in with force.
The visitors set out to frustrate their hosts, who resorted to crossing from deep areas. Solanke notably got on the end of a delivery from Pedro Porro, but it went straight down the throat of Raya.
At the beginning of five minutes of stoppage time, Kulusevski pulled the trigger from 25 yards, only for his fierce strike to fly over the top and into the stands.
That was as close as Tottenham came and Arsenal held on to take the spoils, the points and the bragging rights.
GK: Guglielmo Vicario – 6/10 – Kept Tottenham in the contest in the first half with two magnificent saves. Rule changes meant he wasn’t targeted on corners as much this year.
RB: Pedro Porro – 5/10 – Continually gave up space for Martinelli to run into, and the Brazilian obliged to take him up on that offer.
CB: Cristian Romero – 5/10 – Solid for the most part but his lack of awareness leading to Gabriel’s goal was unforgivable in a game like this.
CB: Micky van de Ven – 6/10 – Used his recovery pace to stop a few Havertz attacks. Better in the air today, which you think should be a given considering his sheer size.
LB: Destiny Udogie – 6/10 – Never let Saka have nearly as much freedom as Porro did Martinelli on the other flank.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – 6/10 – Held his own in the midfield battle in the absence of Yves Bissouma and generally wasn’t the player eaten up in transition.
CM: Dejan Kulusevski – 6/10 – Battled hard through tackles and lunges to retain possession. Couldn’t quite keep the ball under wraps in more dangerous areas.
CM: James Maddison – 6/10 – Created some of Spurs’ best chances, though could be accused of playing too safely and slowing play down when they were in the ascendancy.
RW: Brennan Johnson – 4/10 – Failed to cause any real problems for Timber going towards the Arsenal goal. Squandered his opportunities to burst into space.
CF: Dominic Solanke – 6/10 – Held the ball up well considering he was up against two man-mountains in Saliba and Gabriel. Fluffed a chance in the first half where he was in two minds whether to shoot or pass.
LW: Son Heung-min – 5/10 – Skirted round the fringes of the game even when he had the beating of White.
Substitutes
SUB: Pape Matar Sarr (68′ for Bentancur) – 6/10
SUB: Wilson Odobert (68′ for Johnson) – 5/10
SUB: Timo Werner (80′ for Maddison) – 5/10
Subs not used: Fraser Forster (GK), Djed Spence, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall
Manager
Ange Postecoglou – 5/10 – Yeah, Tottenham played nice football in stretches, but again they were the architects of their own downfall and couldn’t stem the tide.
GK: David Raya – 8/10 – The birthday boy came up with a top display to make amends for his hazardous performance in Arsenal’s last visit to Tottenham.
RB: Ben White – 6/10 – Put through his paces against the speed of Son and Udogie, though never usually to Arsenal’s detriment.
CB: William Saliba – 8/10 – A nearly flawless effort from the Frenchman after he picked up an early booking. There were some tackles on the edge of his own box in which it seemed impossible to win the ball cleanly, and yet he did.
CB: Gabriel – 9/10 – Arsenal’s hero in both boxes. Got to grips with Solanke before crashing in a header to seal the derby win.
LB: Jurrien Timber – 7/10 – In the wars after a heavy challenge on Porro towards the end of the first half. Didn’t let that get to his head though.
RM: Bukayo Saka – 7/10 – Most of Arsenal’s attacks came down Martinelli’s side and rendered Saka the spare man in attack, but his set pieces were wicked and led to Gabriel’s header.
CM: Jorginho – 5/10 – More often than not acts as the cool head in Arsenal’s midfield, but he couldn’t bring that same assuredness on this occasion. Fortunately for the Gunners, that didn’t matter.
CM: Thomas Partey – 5/10 – Similarly couldn’t impose his experience on the game and often didn’t want the ball in deep areas.
LM: Gabriel Martinelli – 6/10 – Guilty of missing a great chance in the early exchanges but Arsenal desperately needed his quickness and trickery as an outlet.
CF: Kai Havertz – 6/10 – Of most use when acting as a target man, which arguably wasn’t enough. Again, that mattered little.
CF: Leandro Trossard – 7/10 – A fine, selfless performance in an odd role from Trossard. Arsenal tend to need the Belgian to convert chances, but he excelled as a link-man and creator.
Substitutes
SUB: Gabriel Jesus (80′ for Trossard) – 6/10
SUB: Raheem Sterling (80′ for Martinelli) – 6/10
SUB: Ethan Nwaneri (86′ for Saka) – 6/10
Subs not used: Neto (GK), Jakub Kiwior, Maldini Kacurri, Ayden Heaven, Ismeal Kabia, Myles Lewis-Skelly
Manager
Mikel Arteta – 8/10 – The only criticism you could lay against Arteta here was that he didn’t find an adequate solution for his midfield problem. And yet the Gunners were still streetwise and, ultimately, superior.