Spurs Suffer Embarrassing Defeat at the Hands of Arch-Rivals Arsenal

Sunday 26th September 2021

Match Report

Arsenal 3 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Venue: Emirates Stadium, London

Competition: English Premier League

It was a miserable trip down the road to the Emirates for Spurs, as they were dominated by an Arsenal side who less than a month ago we were jeering for being bottom of the league while we sat pretty on the top. Their 3-1 victory means they're now above us… Shocking.

It would have been easier to stomach if we'd put in a half decent performance, not many expected us to go there and win as we last achieved that a decade ago. But for the players to not even look up for it, not show the kind of tenacity you expect to see in a derby game, that's desperately disappointing.

On paper it looked a promising lineup – Lloris in goal. Ndombele starting alongside Højbjerg and Dele in the centre of midfield, Moura returned from injury, a player who's performed well in past derbies, main men Kane and Son were there to provide the goal threat, and a back four of Reguilón, Dier, Sánchez and Tanganga who managed to keep a clean sheet against City on the opening day.

In hindsight, many would have preferred to see Romero, Skipp and Gil from the off, but pre-match, Spurs fans wouldn’t have had too many complaints about Nuno's selection.

Of course, being a derby, the Emirates was loud for once and the fans got behind their team for their biggest game of the season. It clearly fired their side up too and arguably rattled Spurs, as from the first whistle we were chasing shadows.

It didn't take long for Smith Rowe to put them ahead, twelve minutes to be precise – Saka sized up Reguilón down the right side of the area, a step-over and a burst of pace toward the by-line created the gap for him to slide it across the box, where the incoming Smith Rowe met it between the penalty spot and the six yard box to slot away first time to the right of Lloris. 1-0.

Tottenham's tactics were atrocious. Despite playing three central midfielders, they seemed intent on pushing them high up the pitch toward the attackers then simply hoofing it up there from the back. This left a gaping hole in the centre of the park and Odegaard had reams of space to run into once Arsenal had cleared away Spurs' hit and hope long balls. No wonder Odegaard, Saka, Smith Rowe and Aubamenyang had a field day, they had so much time on the ball and space to run into.

Twenty minutes in and a second goal looked inevitable, with Arsenal having already recorded five attempts compared to Tottenham's zero.

Son then had a step over and burst towards the by-line of his own, shooting from a tight angle rather than crossing as Saka did for Arsenal's opener. His shot was well struck but Ramsdale was there to palm away at the near post.

Five minutes later and Arsenal found that second goal – A sloppy pass from Ramsdale to Xhaka on the edge of his area was intercepted by an onrushing Højbjerg, who went down under the recovering challenge of Xhaka but nothing was given. Arsenal swiftly countered and next thing Smith Rowe was sprinting down the left side of the Spurs penalty area. Sánchez went out to meet him but he pulled it back to Aubameyang who laced it across Lloris into the bottom right corner. 2-0.

This left Spurs in serious trouble after just twenty-seven minutes. Though there was a claim to be made that VAR should have had a closer look at Xhaka's initial challenge on Højbjerg.

Seven minutes later and Saka made it three. Spurs falling to pieces… Kane, having messed up and lost possession on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, was immediately jeered by the home support. He showed an angry tenacity to chase the lost ball all the way back to the edge of his own penalty area following another Arsenal counter attack, but his sliding challenge on Saka only knocked the ball into a more favourable position for the attacker, and he stroked the gift home across Lloris into the bottom left corner. 3-0, and it was Tottenham in turmoil, Arsenal in dreamland.

Kane almost drew one back for Spurs shortly after – Son's corner found him with a free header around the penalty spot that he directed toward the bottom right corner, but it was just wide of the post. By his standards, he should have scored.

The ref blew up for half time just as Tanguy Ndombele was bearing down on the Arsenal box in what looked a very promising attack. Spurs rid of a potential chance to get one back before half time. Not that they deserved it. 3-0 at the break. Could have been more.

"Thoughts at Half Time – Shocking. An absolute nightmare showing from Spurs so far. Some of those away supporters heading for the exits already and you can't blame them. No passion out there. Rip it up and start again, this time with a bit of fight."

Half time saw two changes for Spurs – A non-existent Dele made way for Skipp and Tanganga came off for Emerson Royal.

Ten minutes into the second half and Arsenal remained on top. It looked a question of not if, but when Arsenal's fourth goal was going to come. Thankfully it wasn't from a WEAK penalty appeal the Arsenal players distastefully hounded the ref for following what they deemed a push in the back by Sánchez having won a header.

Though I can't help but feel Arsenal's waved away appeals had an impact on one at the other end just moments later – Kane clearly got to a pass before Ben White, who took Kane's legs away from him instead of the ball. A stonewall penalty, nothing given.

Kane then found himself with a chance in open play when Dier's long ball found him having snuck in behind Arsenal's right side of defence, he took a great first touch to set him in on goal then nudged it up over Ramsdale who'd gone to ground, but as with his header in the first half, it fell just wide of the right post.

It was alarming to see Kane missing opportunities he'd usually be putting away.

On seventy minutes a sluggish Ndombele departed for Gil.

Similar to Skipp when he came on, Gil showed a dogged determination that Spurs had been so badly lacking in the first half and it didn’t take long for the young Spaniard to make an impact – Having lost possession on the edge of Arsenal's area, he immediately chased down the ball and slid in to not only win it back but push it out wide to Reguilón on the left wing. Reguilón drilled a cross into Son who from around the penalty spot struck a first time side-footed shot that was palmed into the right side of the net by Ramsdale. 3-1.

Moura came close to making it 3-2 in stoppage time when his left-footed shot from the edge of the area deflected up and over Ramsdale who somehow managed to reach it with an outstretched right hand and push it onto the crossbar.

That would have made for a nail biting last few minutes, but in truth Spurs didn't deserve anything from this game. Their lack of passion and determination in such a huge derby match will have raised serious concerns amongst the support, and Nuno will need to have his troops riled up for a big performance in the game against Villa next week or fans will already be hounding for him to be axed from the club.

Tottenham Player Ratings:

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 5 – Wasn't really at fault for any of the goals. His distribution wasn't the best but then again, neither were the options available to him. Made a few decent saves to keep the scoreline down. Maybe as the captain he could have done more to motivate his team.

• 25. Japhet Tanganga – 4 – Caught out on the counter attack down his side that led to Arsenal's second. Didn't offer much of an option going forward. More suited as a centre back.

• 6. Davinson Sánchez – 4 – Dragged here there and everywhere by Arsenal's attacking movement. Smith Rowe ran across him as he fell to the floor on the first goal. Failed to prevent the pull-back to Aubameyang for the second.

• 15. Eric Dier – 4 – On par with Sánchez. Couldn't get near the Arsenal attackers and caught out of position on multiple occasions. Did create a good chance for Kane in the second half with a long ball in behind Tomiyasu.

• 3. Sergio Reguilón – 5 – Was run ragged by Saka. Did provide the assist for Son's goal with a decent cross.

• 20. Dele Alli – 3 – Barely noticeable in the first half. Hooked at half time. It'll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 4 – An uncharacteristically bad performance. Left to run around the midfield by himself then looked tired getting back to do defensive work. The question is whether himself or his manager was to blame.

• 28. Tanguy Ndombele – 3 – Didn't get on the ball to make things happen. Didn't even look like he wanted to. Lacked the fire in the belly that's required to make an impact in North London derbies.

• 27. Lucas Moura – 5 – Ran around in classic Lucas Moura fashion but had little to no effect until very late on when his effort was palmed onto the bar by Ramsdale.

• 10. Harry Kane – 5 – Had very few touches. Missed two big chances. Should have been awarded a penalty. Showed desire to chase back the length of the pitch having lost the ball, but it only teed up Arsenal's third. Continues to look worryingly out of sorts.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 6 – Good run and decent shot at goal in the first half. Found the net in the second. Quiet otherwise.

Substitutions:

• 25. Japhet Tanganga <-- 45' --> 12. Emerson Royal – 6 – Got on the ball and provided more of an attacking threat than Tanganga.

• 20. Dele Alli <-- 45' --> 29. Oliver Skipp – 8 – Immediately flew into a few crunching tackles which underlined the fact he should have started. Shored up the midfield.

• 28. Tanguy Ndombele <-- 70' --> 11. Bryan Gil – 8 – Also made a statement that he should have played more of a part in the match. Looked like he wanted to be out there, and it was his tenacity that led to Spurs' goal.