Sport
North London Derby win showed Arsenal are ready to embrace the fight to win the Premier League title
Sunday’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium came at the right time for Arsenal. Seven different visitors have left the North London venue with all three points in the Premier League this season and the Gunners added their name to the list by putting four goals past Spurs in a game that restored their five-point lead at the top of the table.
Questions were asked of Mikel Arteta and his players after last week’s wobble at Wolves. That result and the way Arsenal allowed two points to slip through their fingers against the worst team in the league threatened to be a season-defining moment, and it could still be should Manchester City catch them in the title race.
On Sunday, though, against their closest rivals Arsenal showed they are up for the fight. They have embraced the reality of a tighter contest to finish the Premier League season than many were expecting only a few weeks ago and the manner of the 4-1 victory over Tottenham demonstrated this.
“After what happened against Wolves it was tough but that’s the beauty of this game,” said Arteta. “You watch it back and you cannot understand how they drew that game. You feel angry, upset, ashamed. We are all different nationalities, different people, but it’s been a joy to see how we came together and asked: ‘How will we use it to be a turning point and make ourselves better?’ It’s much bigger than a job – it’s our passion, our purpose. It’s very painful but it can be very rewarding.”
Arsenal could have crumbled after Declan Rice’s mistake led to an equaliser by Randal Kolo Muani. Spurs showed at points of the first half that they might be better organised and more defensively compact under Igor Tudor than was ever the case under Thomas Frank. On another day, Tottenham might have snatched something.
As it was, the Gunners not only underlined their superior quality and squad depth, but showed their spirit against a Spurs team that has yet to get their teeth into their reality at the other end of the Premier League table. By every metric, Arsenal showcased why they’re top of the table and Tottenham are fighting relegation.
Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba were solid at the back. David Raya made a couple of crucial saves, including one off his line which would have given Spurs hope at 3-2. Rice and Martin Zubimendi controlled the game in the centre of the pitch, even accounting for the former’s error. Tottenham couldn’t get near him.
On the right wing, Bukayo Saka gave Djed Spence all sorts of problems while Eberechi Eze demonstrated the sort of creativity and dribbling ability that persuaded Arsenal to sign him from Crystal Palace in the first place. Viktor Gyokeres also had his most impactful game for the Gunners, bagging a brace.
There might be further wobbles before the end of the season. The Premier League has never been more competitive from top to bottom than it is now and so Arsenal will drop more points. This weekend’s clash with Chelsea, for example, will be a challenging one. The Blues drew against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in November.
Nothing can be taken for granted, especially with Arsenal fighting on multiple fronts in the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. They have big games every few days. Arteta has bulked up the depth of his squad to handle this level of labour, but City’s breath is getting warmer on the neck of the table-toppers.
Sunday’s experience should give Arsenal confidence that they can handle whatever the final stretch of the title race will throw at them. Winning the Premier League isn’t meant to be easy otherwise the Gunners would have done it more recently than 22 years ago. Arsenal know what they need to do and are prepared to do it.
