Premier League GW35 - Tottenham vs Arsenal

Tottenham vs Arsenal | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

In an exciting North London Derby match, Arsenal defeated Tottenham and won 3-2 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Despite a late comeback by Spurs spearheaded by Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min, the Gunners' first-half dominance—fueled by goals from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (own goal), Bukayo Saka, and Kai Havertz—proved crucial.

Tottenham:

Spurs' chances of making the playoffs were severely damaged by their crushing 4-0 loss to Newcastle United last time out. With Aston Villa's Saturday stalemate with Chelsea, Spurs are currently seven points behind the Villans, despite having games in hand. They have won the last three games in a row and have only lost one of their last eight (W7) at home. They have only triumphed against their North London opponents in one of their last six Premier League encounters (D1 L4), having lost the other four.

Arsenal:

With a victory today, Arsenal may move four points clear of Manchester City, who are now in second place in the table. However, Pep Guardiola's team still has two games remaining, the first of which is away at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. The Gunners defeated Chelsea 5-0 on Tuesday as they rebounded from setbacks to Aston Villa in the Premier League and Bayern Munich in the Champions League with consecutive wins over Wolves. They defeated Spurs 2-0 in this exact matchup the previous season, but they haven't triumphed against them in three straight since 1987–88.

Line ups:

TOTTENHAM STARTING XI (4-2-3-1): Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Ben Davies; Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Rodrigo Bentancur; Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Timo Werner; Son Heung-Min.

TOTTENHAM SUBS: Brandon Austin, Yves Bissouma, Radu Dragusin, Bryan Gil, Brennan Johnson, Emerson Royal, Giovani Lo Celso, Pape Sarr, Richarlison.

ARSENAL STARTING XI (4-3-3): David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Takehiro Tomiyasu; Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard.

ARSENAL SUBS: Fabio Vieira, Jorginho, Eddie Nketiah, Jakub Kiwior, Gabriel Martinelli, Aaron Ramsdale, Emile Smith Rowe, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadiu | Picture Credits - Buro Happold

Saka scored a goal for Arsenal and doubled their lead to 0-2 | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

First Half: Arsenal's Dominant Display
Arsenal got off to a fast start and took the lead in the fifteenth minute when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg unintentionally turned Bukayo Saka's corner into his own goal. Tottenham retaliated strongly, but Arsenal's resilient defence held firm. Arsenal took a comfortable 3-0 lead into halftime when Kai Havertz headed in Declan Rice's corner shortly before the half-hour mark. Saka had opened the score with a clean finish.

Second Half: Spurs' Fightback Falls Short
In the second half, Spurs made a strong comeback attempt, and Cristian Romero gave the home team a goal back by taking advantage of a David Raya goalkeeping blunder. A well-executed penalty by Son Heung-min in the 87th minute further cut the margin, setting up a suspenseful finish. But despite Spurs' late charge, Arsenal held on to their lead to win the North London Derby, which was extremely important.

Arsenal benefited greatly from the goal that Bukayo Saka scored and the continual threat that his offensive ability brought. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's own goal opened the scoring for Arsenal, and Kai Havertz's header increased their lead. Arsenal dominated the first half of play. Arsenal's defence remained strong despite Spurs' late comeback, as David Raya made crucial saves to maintain the win.

With his goal against Tottenham, Bukayo Saka achieved a personal best for the season with 15 league goals. Saka's significance to Arsenal's attack was further demonstrated when he became the first English player to score goals both at home and away against Spurs in a single campaign since Ian Wright in 1993–94.

Spurs' home winless streak against their North London rivals was prolonged by the Arsenal defeat; this is the first time since 1988 that Tottenham has lost to Arsenal in back-to-back home league games. Spurs' dreams of finishing in the top four were further dashed as they failed to overcome Arsenal's first-half dominance, despite their heroic attempts in the second half.

Arsenal went four points clear at the top of the Premier League standings after their thrilling 3-2 victory against Tottenham in the North London Derby. Arsenal's first-half performance and defensive tenacity earned them a vital victory, further establishing their title credentials, even in the face of Spurs' late comeback. Arsenal will try to maintain this momentum as the season nears its conclusion, while Spurs will want to get over their sad loss.

Havertz scored a goal and tripled Arsenal's lead | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

Romero scored a goal and broke the deadlock for Tottenham | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

Son scored a goal through penalty fore Tottenham which kept their hopes alive for a comeback | Picture Credits: Premier League Website