Kai Havertz scored one and set up another as Arsenal held on to seal a 3-2 win at Tottenham in the north London derby. The Gunners raced into a three-goal lead thanks to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg heading into his own net, Bukayo Saka’s neat finish and Havertz nodding in from close range.
But Spurs fought back valiantly after the break to set up a tense finish. A woeful mistake from David Raya allowed Cristian Romero to slot in, before Son Heung-min’s late penalty brought the hosts back to within one, although they couldn’t complete the comeback as Arsenal withstood a barrage of late pressure.
The result means Mikel Arteta’s side will finish the day ahead of Manchester City in their quest for the Premier League title. And as the dust settles on a breathless contest, Express Sport takes you through four key talking points…
Kai Havertz excels
After making a slow start to life at the Emirates Stadium, and indeed the Premier League in general, Havertz is truly starting to come into his own. In the north London derby he was nothing short of superb, producing a raking 40-yard through ball to set up Saka for 2-0 before heading in Arsenal’s third himself.
Overall it was a skilful, sharp performance from the German, who has now notched 13 goal contributions in his last 11 Premier League games – the kind of numbers he could only have dreamt of during his early days with the Gunners.
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Postecoglou eats his words
Earlier this month, Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou quite literally laughed off suggestions that he ought to be worried about facing Arsenal and Manchester City down the home stretch of the season. When asked whether he should be concerned, the chuckling Aussie said: “No! no, no… no.”
The Gunners saw to that on Sunday by leaving their local rivals empty-handed. Postecoglou now has seven points to make up on fourth-place Aston Villa – albeit with two games in hand – over the final five games of the season.
Jover comes up trumps
Pinching set-piece specialist Nicolas Jover from Man City’s coaching staff has proven to be a masterstroke by Arteta. The Gunners have been relentless from dead ball situations all season, and their first and third goals against Tottenham both came from corner kicks.
Jover was in the technical area celebrating with Arteta when Hojbjerg headed into his own net, and again when Havertz put Arsenal three to the good, with Sky Sports co-commentator Gary Neville branding him a ‘little nuisance’.
Rice and White show true colours
The Arsenal team’s reactions to their first two goals on Sunday were telling. In the immediate aftermath of Hojbjerg putting the visitors ahead, captain Martin Odegaard scurried over to the touchline to talk tactics with Arteta.
The rest of the players gathered in a huddle to regroup before kick-off, and midfield maestro Declan Rice, in amongst a host of other leadership figures, was the player leading the talk. The 25-year-old has been a smash hit since signing from West Ham last summer, and it remains to be seen whether his leadership qualities one day earn him the armband.
Minutes later, when Saka doubled Arsenal’s advantage, another huddle appeared. This time it was Ben White standing in the middle, dishing out words of motivation to his team-mates. Above all else, the celebrations showed that Arteta has a dressing room full of respected figures all capable of saying their piece to the rest of the group rather than relying on one solitary figurehead.
