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The much hyped North London derby stayed true to its nature where both the teams threw caution to the wind at times. In a breathtaking game a young local lad who goes by the name of Harry Kane rose to the occasion. A brace in this high voltage fixture has surely propelled him to the dizzying heights.
It was a catastrophic game for Arsenal where things hardly went their way but Spurs had a game which will go into the North London derby folklore. Here are the player ratings for this exciting match –
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Tottenham Hotspur
Hugo Lloris, 7 – The Frenchman was at his usual self today. Calm and composed, he also admirably led his relatively young backline as they kept a formidable Arsenal attack quiet for large swathes of game.
Kyle Walker, 7 – Walker did the job assigned to him with perfection as he kept Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil running up and down the flanks along with him. Defensively he was very good but the most striking feature of game today was the way he timed his forward runs. He caught Arsenal napping at times in the second half.
Eric Dier, 6.5 – A surprise selection for this derby but the young Scot justified his place in the starting lineup by putting in a solid display at the heart of defence. His marking of Olivier Giroud was the highlight of his performance.
Jan Vertonghen, 6.5 – The Belgian centre back was expected to be the leader of this young Spurs backline but he was not up to the high standards that are expected of him. Nonetheless, he was very ably complimented by Eric Dier and Danny Rose.
Danny Rose, 8 – He was the pick of the defenders for Spurs today. He enjoyed acres of space on the right flank of Arsenal. He had a near perfect game today except for a glaring mistake which led to Mesut Ozil’s goal where he let Danny Welbeck run past him.
Ryan Mason, 7.5 – He was the inglorious one in today’s team. He was doing all the dirty work for his side under the radar. Harry Kane must be hogging all the limelight but this young Englishman also is having a superb season and he showed it today with his grit and graft.
Nabil Bentaleb, 7 – The Algerian returned from the AFCON and was effective throughout the game as he negated Santi Cazorla’s influence admirably in the first half. And his assist for Kane’s second was a delightful cross. Overall it was a good game for the young midfielder.
Erik Lamela, 7 – He had a torrid first half but was back to his vintage self in the second half as he started out a bit more wide. He provided more attacking width which caused the Arsenal defence all the troubles in the last 45 minutes, and was instrumental in Spurs’ amazing turnaround.
Moussa Dembele, 6 – He was the weakling in this flamboyant Spurs side. He was too slow at times as he was easily closed down by the Arsenal defence. Post his substitution, Spurs were far more fluid and also crisp on the counter.
Christian Eriksen, 8 – The Dane is having a great season at the Lane. Today too, he was pivotal for the home side as he linked up with his fellow attackers remarkably.
Harry Kane, 10 – He was the best player on pitch. A young academy graduate scoring a brace in North London derby that too in a comeback win, speaks volumes about his character.
Subs
Nacer Chadli, 7 – He replaced Dembele and was more effective for the Lilywhites in 15 minutes than he his compatriot was in his 75 minutes. It was baffling to see him on bench in first place but he showed why he is so crucial for Spurs’ Champions League charge.
Benjamin Stambouli, 6 – He was brought in as a defensive change just to preserve the lead. He did his job as the hosts hung onto their lead.
Paulinho, No ratings – The Brazilian was brought in just to waste time and played barely 2 minutes.
Arsenal
David Ospina, 7.5 – He was by far the best Arsenal player on pitch. His acrobatic saves kept the Gunners in the game or else Spurs would have easily pumped in three or four goals in this game.
Hector Bellerin, 6 – The young right back was caught out of position far too often, one instance of which was capitalized on by Danny Rose.
Per Mertesacker, 6 – The German defender was having an off game as he was looking out of sorts for most of the game. He was guilty for Harry Kane’s first and also partly responsible for the second as well. Overall, he had a game to forget.
Laurent Koscielny, 6 – The Frenchman was unable to handle the menace of Harry Kane as he let him rise above him which led to the winner. He too like Mertesacker had an average game , nothing to write to home about.
Nacho Monreal, 6.5 – Monreal was good in the first half but was missing in the second half. Kyle Walker had a field day on the right side as Nacho and Ozil both were far too open on the flanks where Lamela was causing havoc.
Francois Coquelin, 6 – The young midfielder was like many Arsenal players who good in the first but were very pedestrian in the second. Although he kept a very fragile Arsenal midfield intact, he still was unable to keep up his performances of the Eithad and Emirates.
Aaron Ramsey, 5.5 – Ramsey was simply woeful throughout the game as he was hardly visible in the second half. He rarely pressed high up the pitch and also was ineffective defensively.
Danny Welbeck, 7 – He was the best outfield player for the Gunners. His defensive shifts and effective pressing in the opposition half was keeping the visitors in the game. As he went off, it was evident that Arsenal lacked the legs in the opposition half.
Santi Cazorla, 5 – The diminutive Spaniard was missing in the game as Spurs had effectively marked him out of the game. He was invisible in the second half which prompted Wenger to take him off in the 68th minute.
Mesut Ozil, 6.5 – The German playmaker was the very influential in the first half but Walker and Lamela slowly weathered him down as he was made to do his defensive duties. He scored the opening goal of a match which was a classic finish and thus earns him that extra 0.5 points.
Olivier Giroud, 5 – The centre-forward was dismal to say the least. An average pair of Dier-Vertonghen was easily able to hold him at bay and also a raft of chances that he missed were too hard to ignore. It was surprising why Arsene Wenger didn’t take him off.
Subs –
Tomas Rosicky, 6.5 – He was brought on for Santi and was very effective putting in a shift in the midfield hunting down Spurs players for possession. Sadly, he wasn’t supported by his fellow teammates.
Theo Walcott, 6 – He was average for the 15 odd minutes he was on the field.
Chuba Akpom, No ratings – The academy graduate was the last throw of the dice but sadly had just 5 minutes to make any sort of impact on the game. The time span was too less to judge his performance on the night.
