Arsenal blew North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur away in the first half at the Emirates today.

While Spurs looked pretty lethargic during much of the encounter, that shouldn’t take anything away from Mikel Arteta’s men who showed plenty of desire and skill to put their derby rivals to the sword in the Premier League fixture.

In all competitions, The Gunners have now recorded four straight wins in a row. The three league victories have sent Arsenal back into the top half of the table and just four points away from the top four positions.

Now there’s still a few things I’d be worried about if I were a Gooner.

I still think they can do better than Granit Xhaka in midfield. I’m also reserving judgment on Adam Ramsdale as their number one, although his save from Lucas Moura late on was special. The first team as a whole could do with one or two more established winners within their ranks.

But in the whole there were plenty more positives for Arsenal in their derby win.

Kieran Terney is a player that just seems to continue to get better and better. He’s always been a fighter and a player that comes good in derby clashes! The Scottish defender looked very composed today and he had the beating of Dele Alli, who was hooked at half time. Tierney was as always one of Arsenal’s main players for winning the ball back. He’s a player who just needs to stay clear of injuries, the same that can be said for a lot of players currently plying their trade at the emirates.

Speaking of which – Thomas Partey is another one that can drive The Gunners forward as long as he can stay fit. He made three successful passes against Spurs and even ventured forward too.

The centre of defence partnership between Gabriel and Ben White looks to be a good one. The Brazilian made two tackles and the most clearances (Stats Via Whoscored). Between them the two centre-backs had over 100 touches of the ball and they managed to keep Harry Kane pretty quiet.

In terms of keeping the ball, Martin Odegaard was bossing possession for his team. Getting the Norwegian back on a permanent deal (Source The Guardian) looks to be a great move for Arteta and the Gunners hierarchy.

Young English forwards Buyako Saka and Emile Smith Rowe were scintillating to watch as they just ran tirelessly at the Spurs defence. Both scored and got an assists each too. Saka created three key passes. They both worked back well and helped out the rest of the team.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had his best game of the season so far in this derby. He lead the line, defended from the front and his play showed up Kane. He was very energetic and deserved to get his goal today.

That Arsenal performance has to give the team and their support encouragement that they can push on this term. It is a valuable confidence booster but only if they consistently play like that. There’s no point getting a win here and then drop points in the next fixture Brighton.

They have plenty of talented players, they have scorers within the pool and can be direct and pacy. But today they showed desire and played in a good shape, plus with confidence.

This could be the platform that sees Mikel Arteta get this team back up the Premier League table. The Spanish coach certainly believes something special is brewing at the Emirates:

“I can feel what is happening here, and I can feel what is happening with the supporters, with the generation of players that we have here, with everybody that is involved in the organisation. I think it is going to be pretty powerful.”

Via Sky Sports

Posted on September 26th, 2021 by scott
Filed under: Article