Arsenal vs Tottenham a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
November 7, 2016
1,655 Views
- I’ve let the dust settle and more importantly let my hangover dissipate so that I can give my thoughts as to yesterday’s North London Derby
- The third 1-1 draw in a row and the fourth in the last five derbies, these games have a habit of being tight and yesterday proved to be no different
- Tottenham are now unbeaten in their last five league encounters with Arsenal but yesterday the draw did neither side any real favours
- For Arsenal it was a chance to go top, for Tottenham it was a chance to close the gap on the Top 4
- With honours even both teams will be glad that they gained a point but sad they didn’t gain all three points
- At the start of the day, I would have taken a draw. I never like going into these games as a fan thinking ‘a point will do’ as I think any derby game is up for taking regardless of form but with the line up at our disposal it was certainly Arsenal’s to win
- Dele Alli being out injured was a big blow but the fact that Harry Kane and Mousa Dembele were both available from the start was a massive boost
- Kane the talisman and Dembele the heart of the midfield, what a difference these two make the Tottenham line up
- And of what few chances there were early on Kane was in the thick of them.
- Heung-min Son’s teasing ball across the box was looking for the England international but he was perhaps just lacking that extra yard of sharpness as the ball flashed past Petr Cech and away from safety
- Kane would be in the thick of things again when his header crept past the far post with Cech rooted to the spot.
- Tottenham certainly started the brighter but then it was Arsenal’s time to shine
- Once the home side got a foothold in the game it really seemed to ignite matters and we had a real derby on our hands
- With Arsenal in the ascendancy after weathering the storm in the first 20 minutes it was then a real test for Tottenham’s 3 centre backs that were deployed into action yesterday
- Eric Dier who has been deputising for Toby Alderweireld as of late was also joined by Kevin Wimmer for his first league start of the season as they along with Jan Vertonghen made up a back three
- This formation isn’t totally new for Mauricio Pochettino as it was used last season away at Watford, with a trio of centre backs seemingly in vogue at the moment it came as no real suprise that Spurs lined up in this fashion
- And you have to say on the whole they coped with what Arsenal threw at them pretty well
- As the game approached half time, Pochettino’s men were given an almighty scare when Theo Walcott’s effort smacked off the post and away to safety
- Arsenal had their tails up and the objective now for Tottenham was to get to half time still level
- Only with 3 minutes before the break that objective was not to be reached
- Tottenham conceding in the most unfortunate of circumstances as Kevin Wimmer headed past Hugo Lloris into his own net to put The Gunners ahead
- The kind of goal you never want to give away and especially not in a derby.
- You could say ‘The Wimmer Takes It All’ then again it’s probably best you don’t
- Questions were now going to have to be asked from Tottenham as they looked for a first win in 7 matches across all competitons
- The question now was how if at all could they bounce back?
- And the answer was in the best possible fashion
- Mousa Dembele with another of his surging runs into the box was met by Laurent Koscielny, there was contact and although it looked a bit soft from my point view the most important man in the building Mark Clattenburg deemed it to be a spot kick
- And who else to step up than Harry Kane
- This man scores North London Derby goals in his sleep
- He expertly slotted home the spot kick to restore parity and register his 5th NLD goal the last 4 outings
- With Tottenham now level there was still plenty of time for either team to go on and get a winner
- Danny Rose was once again in imperious form on the left, it’s almost night and day when he doesn’t play
- You only have to compare Tottenham’s performance last Wednesday to highlight how much he is missed
- He and Kyle Walker were very impressive yesterday and that said even Kieran Trippier looked solid when replacing Walker
- Kane was replaced with 17 minutes to go, he left to a standing ovation. He may not have been fully fit but he made such a difference yesterday. Just his presence seems to give Tottenham that extra boost there is now doubting the mans stature at the club
- In terms of Arsenal’s subs Oliver Giroud run of goalscoring form failed to continue
- While Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cameo must now ask questions as to whether or not he is cut out to play in Arsenal colours.
- His 20 minutes or so yesterday showed that he is not someone who can take the game by the scruff of the game and make a real difference
- Alex Iwobi could have made a real difference to the scoreline in the second half with the goal at his mercy he seemed to almost pass his shot at Hugo Lloris a lucky let off for Spurs
- Christian Eriksen had one of his better games this season but still really struggled to get a foothold in the game
- The Dane forcing a fine save from Petr Cech before his angled free-kick bounced back off the post in the closing minutes.
- I think Eriksen could do with some rest and/or competition. If the Isco to Spurs rumours are to be believed in January then that could be the ideal solution
- Eriksen’s effort was the last real notable chance of the game. With 5 additional minutes was there to be a final sting in the tale
- Unfortunately there was not as once again these two sides had to make do with honours even
- On balance it was a fair result, probably a draw that suits Spurs better than it did Arsenal
- The unbeaten run is still intact so that some positive to take from yesterday but ideally you would the wins and draws count flipped round the other way
- That said the fact we have only conceded 6 goals this season is nothing short of phenomenal
- Let’s not forget that both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil were kept pretty quiet yesterday
- Although it’s quite ironic that we scored twice in this match and still only drew.
- A testament to how hard it is to break down this Spurs side even if the goals are a bit harder to come by
- Now the international break rears it’s ugly head but once that passes there is no rest for Spurs as the fixture computer has served up three all-London clashes in a row with West Ham and Chelsea to follow
- If we can still have the unbeaten run intact after that then you couldn’t have much ground for complaints
- The next task now though is to try and bridge what is becoming an ever wider gap to the Top 4
- But the table keeps changing from week to week
- The point was probably more costly for Arsenal as they drop to 4th
- There is still a lot of football to be played so hopefully we are now out the other end of our slump and can kick on in a couple of weeks
- A decent derby all in all and we will do it all again in April
Like this:
Like Loading...
Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
