Image Credit: Evening Standard
By Lee Clow 12 July 2020 | Premier League
Toby Alderweireld scored a late winner as Tottenham came from behind to beat Arsenal in the first North London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
Tottenham raced out the blocks in the opening exchanges and accomplished something they failed to do in the whole of their last game against Bournemouth and hit the target. Lucas Moura picked up the ball on the edge of the area before striking towards goal, but Emiliano Martinez was well positioned to make the save.
On 10 minutes, Tottenham came close again as Kane was picked out beautifully by Moura. Kane escaped the Arsenal high line before going through one on one with Martinez, but the Arsenal goalkeeper read the Spurs striker’s chipped effort to keep the scores level.
The chances didn’t stop there however as minutes later Arsenal came close. Nicolas Pepe excellently skipped past Harry Winks down the right-hand side before delivering to Aubameyang in the box, but the Arsenal striker filed to connect and fluffed his shot.
Following their first chance, Arsenal came out attacking again and found success through a wonderful strike by Alexandre Lacazette. Serge Aurier clumsily lost possession close to the edge of his box which allowed Lacazette to pick the ball up and thunder a strike into the roof of the net and give the Gunners the lead.
Despite the sucker punch goal, Tottenham immediately responded and scored an equaliser after another defensive mistake involving David Luiz. Sead Kolasinac poorly played back a ball to Luiz which allowed Son Heung-Min to steal the ball away and clip the ball over the outcoming Martinez to draw the home side level.
After a frantic 20 minutes, the game began to die down with both sides looking to take control of the game.
On 30 minutes Spurs left back, Ben Davies, came centimetres away from scoring when he unleashed an ambitious long-range strike. The Welshman’s strike thundered through the air and looked certain to ripple the net, but Martinez got a vital fingertip to divert the ball onto the cross bar.
In the final 15 minutes of the first half, Pepe and Aubameyang came close for Arsenal, however both efforts did not test Hugo Lloris in the Tottenham goal.
The start of the second half was a huge contrast to the start of the first half with both sides looking cautious from the kick-off.
On the hour mark, after controlling most of the possession, Arsenal came inches away from retaking the lead. Lacazette, in the box, expertly slipped in Aubameyang through on goal but the Arsenal striker’s fierce strike smacked the bar, letting Tottenham off the hook.
On 70 minutes, Tottenham created their first chance of the half and almost found success after some great combination play by Kane and Son. After latching onto a ball from the back, Kane easily skipped past Shkodran Mustafi before squaring the ball to Son who looked certain to tap in, but Martinez again rushed out well to stop the South Korean’s effort.
In the final 15 minutes, Arsenal threatened again as Aubameyang came close. A deflected Hector Bellerin strike fell nicely to Aubameyang who first time struck towards goal, but Lloris dived across well to parry the strike away.
Moments later, Tottenham miraculously went ahead for the first time in the game. A great corner from Son found Toby Alderweireld in the box who excellently flicked the ball into the corner of the net past Martinez.
Following the goal, Tottenham appeared to have a spring in their step and began searching for another goal. Kane came close to sealing the game for Spurs in the dying minutes, but Martinez was there to keep the deficit at one.
With minutes to go before full time, Arsenal looked to find a equaliser, however they were unsuccessful as Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham stood strong defensively and earnt their important victory.
The victory for Tottenham leapfrogs them over Arsenal into eighth position as the hope for some form of European football remains intact. For Arsenal their season gets worse as they drop into ninth, two points behind rivals Spurs.
What’s next?
Tottenham next travel to St James’ Park as they take on Steve Bruce’s Newcastle United on Wednesday evening, while Arsenal return home to face recently crowned champions Liverpool on the same day.
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