Tottenham saw the north London derby with Arsenal as one of the 'final' games of the season. Manager Ange Postecoglou could not afford to lose to his city rivals at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as they were trying to stay in the race for Champions League qualification next season. However, the home side were unable to overcome the high-flying Gunners.
Arsenal played brilliantly in the first half
Arsenal (77 points) entered the match with Spurs at the top of the table, 1 point ahead of 2nd-placed Man City, but Mikel Arteta's team played 1 more game. So only 3 points in this derby can help the "Gunners" maintain a two-horse race with Man City when Liverpool (75 points) is falling behind.
In the first half, Coach Arteta's wish seemed to be achieved early when Arsenal took a 3-0 lead after an own goal by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (15th minute) and goals scored by Bukayo Saka (27th minute), Kai Havertz (38th minute). Tottenham did not play too badly in 45 minutes but they could not penetrate Arsenal's defense, the team that has conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League this season.
Son Heung-min could not help Tottenham score points against Arsenal
With a 3-goal lead, Arteta's team played solidly in the second half and waited for counter-attack opportunities thanks to the speed of Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. However, a number of individual mistakes caused the Gunners to concede 2 goals. After Cristian Romero scored from a mistake by Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya in the middle of the second half, Son Heung-min successfully kicked a penalty to reduce the score to 2-3 for Tottenham in the 87th minute. However, the home team's efforts after that could not help them score more goals.
With this victory, Arsenal maintained their top position, temporarily 4 points ahead of the second-placed team Man City but having played 2 more matches. Coach Arteta's team will continue to focus all their strength on the last 3 matches against Bournmouth, MU and Everton. Meanwhile, the defeat left Tottenham in 5th place but Aston Villa's hope of taking 4th place is even more difficult due to being 7 points behind.
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