Arsenal 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur | Carabao Cup Quarter Finals

It was a chilly evening at the Emirates, and Arsenal fans had to witness their team losing their second game this week after having gone on a 22-game undefeated streak.

Tottenham booked safe passage into the semis at the expense of their north London rivals, courtesy goals from Son Heung-min and Dele Alli, as the team held on wave after wave of Arsenal attacks and preserved their clean sheet against an opponent who wiped the floor with them not so long ago.

Arsenal suffered due to their defensive injury crisis, as they had to play without Hector Bellerin, Saed Kolasinac, Shkodran Mustafi, and Rob Holding, starting with a makeshift backline consisting Granit Xhaka at CB and Maitland-Niles as RB. Mesut Ozil's absence certainly didn't help the Gunners either, as they sure could've used the German's excellent technical ability to get a better grip on proceedings in the final third.

Spurs started a strong lineup too but rested key starters Harry Kane and captain Hugo Lloris. Kane did come on at the hour mark to assist Dele Alli's wondergoal, and Lloris' replacement Gazzaniga was shaky as he was excellent, launching the passes that lead to both goals.

Spurs shocked Arsenal near the 20th minute, as Gazzaniga lobbed a ball into Arsenal territory, which was controlled by Alli and sent into the path of Son. The Korean made simple work of the pass, lobbing it past Cech's reach into the corner of the net. Mkhitaryan got into several great positions but was extremely poor with his end product, and was hooked at halftime for Laurent Koscielny as Emery looked to switch things up.

Arsenal blazed through Tottenham far too easily, but failed to take their chances, or were denied by some brilliant defending and good saves. Both managers showed their hand at the hour mark though, and with the game at a narrow 0-1, Harry Kane and Alexandre Lacazette came on.

It was the former that made the telling impact on the match, as Kane chested down a superb Gazzaniga pass and played Dele Alli through on Cech's goal. The Czech keeper rushed to hurry Alli, who slotted the most exquisite of finishes into the far corner of Cech's unprotected goal. It was one of the best goal's I've seen in quite a while, and it deserved to be the winner. Here are the talking points from Tottenham's victory.

#1 Spurs end their Emirates curse

Arsenal outplayed Tottenham in most aspects, except for being clinical with their chances, as Tottenham didn't create too much, but scored when they did. Great performance from Spurs who showed real determination at a ground where they haven't had the best of luck

Tottenham finally broke their Emirates hoodoo, winning at the Gunners' home for the first time since 2010, back when Gareth Bale and Luka Modric weren't winning trophies on an annual basis. Even then it was a narrow 3-2 victory secured by a later winner from Younes Kaboul. Remember him? It's been that long.

But the current Spurs squad finally did it. They have been the better team than Arsenal indisputably for the last 2 seasons, but they always faltered at this ground. Alli &Co. weren't about to let that happen again today, and they didn't in great fashion.

#2 Arsenal's squad is some ways from a title charge

Alex Iwobi has shown flashes of what he can do but is too inconsistent to be relied on as a starter

Arsenal recently had their 22 game unbeaten run halted by Ralph Hassenhutl's Southampton, who defeated the Gunners at St. Mary's 3-2. Arsenal fans were hoping their team might be able to book a place into the Carabao Semis by defeating their North London rivals again this month but were unable to due to a myriad of reasons.

One of them is lack of consistency by players who the coach has no real alternatives for, particularly Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi. Both men are quite talented to say the least, and have shown at several stages in their careers that they have what it takes to play for a team like Arsenal.

The problem is they tend to drift in and out of games, and out of form. They're patchy. They blow hot and cold on various occasions, and tonight they blew colder than a late night January breeze, unable to bring their team level despite having several opportunities.

Emery needs more dependable presences in order to win trophies and have his teams play the way he wants them to week in week out. Recruitment is needed.

#3 Dele Alli is really good at football

Dele Alli scored an absolutely sumptuous goal to put his side 2-0 up. His celebrations later prompted Arsenal fans to hurt a projectile towards him, which lead to him reminding them of the score, drawing a roar of boos from the supporters. What a guy

Dele Alli is only 22 years old, but it feels like he's been around for quite a while now, doesn't it? He burst into prominence in the 2015-16 season, scoring 10 goals and assisting 9 in the league despite joining in January.

Since then, he's gone on to become one of the best goalscoring midfielders in the English top division, contributing 25 goals (18G 7A) in 16/17, then 19 goals (9G 10A) in 17/18. He has not been in the same sort of form this year, having a slow start for the new season, but he's slowly springing back into life and was at his best tonight when it mattered the most against arch-rivals Arsenal.

His goal and performance tonight were 10/10, and a stark reminder for those who'd forgotten that Dele Alli is one of the best midfielders in England, if not Europe.

#4 Injuries changed the complexion of the match

Bellerin was present tonight, but only as a spectator. He had to watch his side lose 0-2, and they could've definitely used his help on the pitch tonight

Arsenal had to start the game with 7 first team players injured, at least 3 of whom would have definitely started the game had they been fit. Arsenal fielded Maitland-Niles in the spot usually occupied by Hector Bellerin, and though he does have a similar level of pace, all the other areas of his game are far behind the Spanish fullback, who was sorely missed tonight.

Granit Xhaka had to start at CB to cover for the injured Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi, and he was uncomfortable in his unfamiliar role, having to be bailed out by Monreal, Cech, and Sokratis on several occasions.

Arsenal's board must have noticed how badly stretched the squad is and the real lack of depth compared to other title rivals, and must recruit accordingly to help the coach execute his gameplans better.