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Arsenal secured a narrow 2-1 win against arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League on Wednesday, January 15.
The result sees the Gunners return to second place in the table, but now trail Liverpool by four points rather than six. This comes after the Reds' draw against Nottingham Forest. Meanwhile, Spurs are languishing in 13th place with 24 points and will look to put together a winning run.
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Arsenal began the first half in their usual ball-dominant fashion as players pushed up in the middle of the pitch as well as the flanks. They had the ball for over 60% of the first period and got to the final third with ease, but failed to create any substantial chances. Raheem Sterling looked slightly off-colour on the right flank, while Kai Havertz was wasteful in the box.
Tottenham, however, defended well and pushed forward on the odd chance of a counter-attack. One such opportunity came their way in the 25th minute as Heung-min Son scored to put his team 1-0 ahead. This prompted Arsenal to play with more initiative as they kept earning one corner after another. Their equalizer came from a corner as well, with Dominic Solanke deflecting the ball into his own net.
Martin Odegaard then set up Leandro Trossard for Arsenal's go-ahead goal in the 44th minute as they led 2-1 heading into the break.
Tottenham made two changes at the interval as Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr made way for James Maddison and Brennan Johnson. Despite being a goal down, Ange Postecoglou chose to bring on two attackers rather than go for a balance. This did help them retain the ball higher up the pitch, but also left considerable gaps in their lines which Arsenal could penetrate.
With 45% possession of the ball, the hosts tried to make the most of each attack they carved out. The Gunners had 10 attempts in the second half, with three of those on target. Meanwhile, Spurs failed to even hit the target from their eight attempts as they struggled in the final third. As a result, Arsenal were left to defend their one-goal lead to see out a 2-1 win.
On that note, let's take a look at the five talking points from this match.
#5. Arteta starts Raheem Sterling owing to record against Tottenham
Mikel Arteta handed Raheem Sterling only his third start in an Arsenal shirt, this time in a crunch fixture like this against Tottenham. This was mainly due to the ongoing injury crisis at the club which has left them depleted in the forward department.
Another reason was because Sterling put in a respectable cameo against Manchester United in the FA Cup last time out. Prior to last night, the veteran had scored eight goals and assisted five times in 25 appearances against Spurs. That alone made a compelling case for him to be handed a start.
#4. Arsenal concede yet another goal that outperformed xG
Arsenal found themselves trailing by a goal midway through the first half as Spurs captain Heung-min Son scored from a lovely volley. The ball was in the air and dropped perfectly for the South Korean maestro to pick his spot in the bottom-right corner, leaving David Raya stranded.
However, this is yet another instance of Arsenal conceding from a shot with minimal xG. The attempt from Son only had 0.06xG, meaning it was very unlikely to be a goal, but due to the deflection off Thomas Partey, the ball crept into the goal.
#3. Arsenal equalize from a corner, but was it even a corner?
Minute 40, the Gunners win yet another corner and the Emirates Stadium goes wild as Pedro Porro is adjudged to have kicked the ball out. The corner is taken and a mix-up between Dominic Solanke and Radu Dragusin at the far post sees the former direct the ball into his own net.
Gabriel leads the celebrations as the Emirates crowd goes wild. Slowly, the Arsenal players return to the center circle, only for the replay screens to show the ball richocheting off Trossard after being kicked by Tottenham's Porro. One of the most obvious and unbelievable errors of judgement by the referees in this match.
#2. Trossard to the rescue at the other end with the go-ahead goal
Minutes leading on from the controversial circumstances under which Arsenal got their leveler, the same player came good again. This time under clearly legitimate circumstances as Leandro Trossard latched onto a searching pass from Martin Odegaard.
The Belgian looked up and spotted a gap and immediately got into his shooting motion. Trossard caught the ball sweetly with his left foot and hit a powerful, low shot that left Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky stranded as he got a glove on it but could not stop it.
It was the Belgian's 18th goal against a 'Big Six' side, taking his tally past Eden Hazard's 17 goals.
#1. Arsenal extend home dominance against Spurs
Tottenham last visited the Emirates Stadium and walked away with a win in the Premier League all the way back in 2010. The Gunners led 2-0 at the break in that match, before Spurs came back from behind, led by Rafael van der Vaart, with Younes Kaboul scoring a late winner to make it 3-2.
In 14 league games since then, the Gunners have won nine and held Tottenham to five draws as their Emirates Stadium continues to be a nightmare ground for their rivals to visit. Overall, Spurs have now managed just one win in 32 games at the home of the Gunners in Premier League history.
