Spurs Destroy Arsenal in Derby Day Delight

Thursday 12th May 2022 - 7:45pm

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 3 – 0 Arsenal

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Competition: English Premier League

"Pre-Match Thoughts – It's Derby day! The first one with fans in the new stadium, and one that means more than most in recent years as it could well decide which of the two sides qualifies for the Champions League.

Arsenal are in pole position, 4 points clear of us with three games to go. It means if they win it they've secured that 4th spot. If we win it then we need either Newcastle or Everton to nick points off them in their remaining two matches.

Conte combined with the fans should have our players right up for it, and I believe we're the better side. I'm saying 3-1 Spurs."

Shock news broke shortly before kick-off that Romero had suffered a hip injury in the Liverpool match and Sánchez would be starting in his place. This caused concern amongst the Spurs support as Romero had put in such strong performances of late.

Not great news to start, but the crowd ensured they were in full voice to help spur on the side in this must-win encounter.

It was a nervy start, especially for Sánchez and Davies, who seemed to be feeling the weight of the occasion and misplaced a few passes out of the back. Thankfully Arsenal failed to capitalize.

Davies soon got himself a yellow for dragging down Saka after he'd muscled his way goal-side of him. It was the correct decision and had to be done to prevent further damage.

21' PENALTY! Spurs worked the ball from left to right in front of the Arsenal area, Kulusevski cut in onto his left and chipped in a cross from the top corner of the box that Son rose to meet. Just as he was about to make contact with it in the six-yard box Cedric crashed into the back of him followed by Holding as well from the front, and the ref awarded a penalty.

22' GOAL! Kane stepped up and slotted it into the bottom right corner sending Ramsdale the wrong way. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium erupted. 1-0.

Rob Holding clearly had it in for Sonny and was diving in on him on every opportunity. He finally earnt himself a yellow for his antics after 26 minutes.

33' Dier launched a long ball forward from centre-back that Son went to sprint onto. Holding cut across him and viciously elbowed him in the face. The ref was quick to produce a second yellow and then the red. Arsenal down to 10 men in the first half.

37' GOAL! Spurs won a corner. Son whipped in an out-swinger from the right side. Bentancur dashed toward the near post, jumped up and headed across goal for the bottom corner. Kane came diving in at the far post and nodded it in from close range. 2-0!

43' Saka embarked on a driving run through the middle of the pitch, as he approached the area he laid it left to Nketiah inside the top left corner of the box, he took a touch before sending a curling effort at goal. Lloris sprung up and tipped it over the bar.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – Spurs in dreamland so far. The crowd responded to the pre-match calls to get behind the team for this one and have created a real hostile environment for Arsenal in there. They'd been going for Son from the first minute and paid the price with a penalty then a red card. More of the same in the second half please."

47' GOAL! It didn't take long to increase the lead. Sánchez played a nice ball into the feet of Kane in the centre of the area, he did well to hold of Gabriel and attempted to turn him while being held by the arm.

They both fell to the ground and the Arsenal defender got a foot in to nudge it away, but it fell into the path of Son who swept it into the right side of the net from around the penalty spot. 3-0.

What a start to the second half!

51' Martinelli crept in down the left side, he played it inside to Saka in the centre of the area who shot at goal, but Davies was there to make an excellent block with an outstretched leg, then he was there again to jump in and prevent the rebound from falling to an Arsenal attacker in the six-yard box. Excellent defending.

59' Kane had it 0n the left side between halfway and the penalty area, he floated in a peach of a pass to the incoming Emerson Royal who headed it down well, but Ramsdale managed to get down and claw it away.

62' Kane received a pass from Bentancur and carried it into space in the centre of the Arsenal half. The defenders backed off and Kane laced a powerful shot from distance that drew another decent save from Ramsdale.

80' Tavares snuck in behind Royal and cut the ball back to Ødegaard on the edge of the area. He shot first time but Lloris got down to smother it in the centre of his goal.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – A huge win for Tottenham Hotspur! Arteta was crying like a baby about the decisions that went against them, but the fact of the matter is that we completely overwhelmed them from the first whistle, just as we hoped we would in the first derby with fans in the new stadium. An emphatic 3-0 victory for Spurs, and now all eyes are on Trippier's Newcastle who we need to take points off Arsenal in their next game."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 8 – Made a good save from Nketiah in the first half and a couple more as the game went on. Another much welcomed clean sheet for the skipper.

• 6. Davinson Sánchez – 8 – Stepped up to a tough task well. Started nervy but grew into the game. Kept Arsenal out and played a part in Son's goal by playing the ball into Kane in the build-up.

• 15. Eric Dier – 8.5 – Strong performance again. Lead the line and was tidy in his defensive work. Hoisted the ball over the top for Son that resulted in the red card.

• 33. Ben Davies – 8.5 – Looked shaky to start but showed excellent composure for the remainder of the match. Yellow carded early but professional enough to go about his duties solidly without giving the ref a chance to show him a second yellow.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 8 – Another promising display from him. Defended well and created a threat going forward on occasions too. Unlucky not to head home a Kane cross in the second half.

• 30. Rodrigo Bentancur – 8 – Did well to meet Son's corner and head down to provide the assist for Kane's second. Showed some silky passing forward and ball winning in midfield.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 9 – Hassled and harried his way around the midfield as he usually does. Made some important tackles and constantly broke down Arsenal attacks.

• 19. Ryan Sessegnon – 9 – Did really well down that left side and finally looks to have regained his confidence. Created a few chances for us and did his job defensively too. Let's hope he can stay fit, as he is definitely improving.

• 21. Dejan Kulusevski – 6.5 – A quiet game for him. Provided the cross for Son that led to the penalty. Didn't play badly but didn't produce a whole lot of note.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 9 – Another brilliant big game performance from him. Did well to cause Arsenal's bullying of him game plan to backfire and have Holding sent off instead of himself. Won the penalty, crossed the corner for Kane's second, and slotted away the third himself clinically.

• 10. Harry Kane – 9 – Inspiring in the North London derby yet again. Looked so up for it and chipped in with a well taken penalty and determined diving header. You could tell it meant a lot to him and he worked hard to drive the team on throughout.

Substitutions:

• 21. Dejan Kulusevski ⬅ 72' ➡ 27. Lucas Moura – 5 – Didn't do a whole lot.

• 7. Son Heung-min ⬅ 72' ➡ 23. Steven Bergwijn – 5 – Another who didn't manage to get involved much after coming on off the bench.

• 33. Ben Davies ⬅ 82' ➡ 14. Joe Rodon – N/A – Nice to see an appearance from him in such a big game. Got up to win one towering header in his short time on the field.

Man of the Match – 10. Harry Kane