After the long, dark teatime of the soul that we call the international break, Tottenham Hotspur were back in action with an early derby in north London. After a mixed start to the season, it was a chance for Spurs to put a marker in the sand against a strong team and claim the bragging rights of north London. Instead, they will be left wondering what might have been after Arsenal scored a goal, perhaps against the odds, to take all three points.

Both teams were hit by injuries, with Arsenal missing Riccardo Calafiori and captain Martin Odegaard due to injuries sustained during the international break, and Tottenham missing Yves Bissouma for the same reason, with him being replaced in the Spurs XI by Rodrigo Bentancur. Declan Rice also missed the game for Arsenal through suspension, but Spurs did have some positive news as both Dominic Solanke and Micky van de Ven returned from injury to start for the Lilywhites.

Dejan Kulusevski had the first shot on target of the game after a cautious but controlled start from Spurs, with the home side dominating possession. Solanke had a golden opportunity to open both the scoring and his Tottenham account shortly after when the ball fell into space for him above the Arsenal penalty area following good press work from Son Heung-min, but the striker curiously opted not to shoot and instead lost the ball. Arsenal always looked a threat in attack, however, and it was only Guglielmo’s gloves that kept the ledger clean as he made a superb save from Kai Havertz’s header, before Gabriel Martinelli wasted a huge chance of his own, firing straight at the Italian when he was in behind the Tottenham defence.

Solanke came close once more, with a header past the outstretched arms of David Raya and the post, but the real star of the first half was the referee’s book. Jarred Gillett handed out seven yellow cards in the first 45 minutes, with William Saliba, Destiny Udogie, Bentancur, van de Ven and Kulusevski all on the receiving end; but it was two others, Jurrien Timber and Vicario, who provided an early flash of fire after Arsenal’s left-back caught Pedro Porro with a high boot. A late shot from Brennan Johnson was the only other moment of note as the first half ended goalless.

The Spurs press, which had had a few good moments in the first half, was in full swing at the start of the second, with Solanke working well to win the ball before his header went wide. Van de Ven saw an early header of his own saved from a set piece, but unfortunately the same could not be said at the other end, with Gabriel leaping highest from an Arsenal corner to score the only goal of the game. The Brazilian gave Cristian Romero a little push to create space for himself, but it was never enough to stop the goal, and Romero should have been stronger.

Ange Postecoglou made immediate substitutions in response, with Pape Matar Sarr replacing Bentancur and Wilson Odobert coming on for Johnson as Tottenham pushed for an equaliser, before Postecoglou made an even more aggressive substitution, Timo Werner coming on for James Maddison. Mikel Arteta responded with a series of Arsenal substitutions, with Leandro Trossard and Martinelli making way for Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus, before Bukayo Saka left the pitch to be replaced by Ethan Nwaneri.

Unfortunately for Spurs, even the aggressive substitutions weren’t enough to break down the Arsenal defence, with Tottenham having to make do with hopeful crosses and long-range speculators before the referee ended the game with the score Tottenham 0, Arsenal 1.

Comments

• This was really disappointing, and as I said above, it felt like Arsenal were there for the taking (especially at home and the players they were missing). With that in mind, it hurts not to get a single point from that game.
• The reality is that Spurs didn’t do enough to win. The attack didn’t create enough and when it looked like Spurs could create a big chance, players took bad options. The attack needs to improve, even against a strong defence like Arsenal.
• On a more positive note, Tottenham’s pressing was excellent, and Dominic Solanke played a big part in that. He’ll regret not taking that shot in the first half.
• Seven yellow cards in the first half is apparently a record for a Premier League game, but it’s hard to argue against many of these. In fact, you could argue there should have been a few more, and perhaps a few more fouls from Arsenal would have deserved the same treatment.
• I have often criticised Dejan Kulusevski (or more specifically his role in the Tottenham team) but he was very good today, working hard and being the centre of Spurs’ best plays.
• It feels a bit like Groundhog Day, conceding a goal from a set piece, but honestly Spurs were pretty good at defending it today… except for that one moment. Cuti should have done better.
• I wonder how different the situation would have been if Yves Bissouma had been there too… but with thoughts like that you can drive yourself crazy.
• Coventry are in the League Cup midweek next week. Hopefully that game will be a nice palate cleanser. COYS!