Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham (Partey 20′, Jesus 49′, Xhaka 67′ | Kane 31’ pen, Emerson red card 62’)
EMIRATES STADIUM — There is still a quarter of the match remaining and the stairwells of the away end at the Emirates are packed so full that you can no longer see the red steps. Tottenham supporters, in their dozens, have seen enough.
They fear that something deeply ugly is about to happen to their beloveds and they have the option of not being there to witness it. The price they must pay for their early surrender is for the rest of the crowd to wave and jeer in their direction.
Five minutes later, those dozens have swelled in number. They are trailing 3-1 in the north London derby and their manager has taken off two of their three attackers for more defensively-minded players. You can accept watching your team lose, even in this fixture. But there is no stomach to watch an abdication. Antonio Conte rested players for the Champions League with 20 minutes remaining in the biggest away game of the season. Memories like that can stick.
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First Hugo Lloris spilled a gentle shot and then Emerson Royal nominated himself for stupidest decision of the season so far. His rash, high challenge, committed way in Arsenal’s half, was the action of a man tormented by being tormented, blood and brain twisted by Gabriel Martinelli.
The first half of Saturday’s derby was a glorious, chaotic mess that questioned every assumption you held. Twenty-five minutes had gone and you thought you had a handle on things – you are a Very Serious Football Watcher and have been doing this for some time.
Arsenal have the lead and Arsenal are in control. Tottenham and Antonio Conte are lost, choosing to sit deep but unable to defend their own penalty area and unable to escape it when Arsenal press them. And then Tottenham score.
Arsenal’s goal has already made you look stupid. There is a new unwritten rule in football that everybody in the crowd must shout “SHOOOOOT!” whenever a central defender steps forward or a defensive midfielder finds himself on the edge of the penalty area and the ball arrives at their feet. Don’t they even care about expected goals?
Player ratings
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale 7, White 7 (Tomiyasu) , Zinchenko 8 (Tierney), Saliba 8, Gabriel 6, Partey 8 (Lokonga), Xhaka 9, Odegaard 7 (Vieira), Martinelli 8, Saka 8, Jesus 8 (Nketiah)
Tottenham (3-4-3): Lloris 4, Romero 6, Lenglet 6 (Sanchez), Dier 6, Royal 3, Perisic 6 (Bissouma), Hojbjerg 5 (Skipp), Bentancur 6, Richarlison 5 (Sessegnon), Son 6 (Doherty), Kane 6
Thomas Partey was the leader of this foolish “shoot” movement. He had attempted 56 shots from outside the penalty area in the Premier League and never scored. They urged him on not because they believed he would score but because they had to take the credit if he finally did. Cue the ball being curled into the top corner past Lloris and a stadium erupting into joy and amusement.
Perhaps this great lurch in itself is what was predictable; take several steps backwards to take in the full view. Mikel Arteta’s team had most of the ball and most of the territory. Antonio Conte’s ceded possession, occasionally making him scream on the touchline like a wild animal on its last breath.
And just when you thought this strategy was broken they hit Arsenal on the break because are brilliant at doing that, it is most likely at the moment when you think it is least likely and Arsenal’s pressing is this ludicrously high-wire act with both central midfielders pushed forward.
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The match was ultimately defined by how that chaos became allocated: Tottenham were unable to contain their own tendency to fall into it; Arsenal controlled it and controlled themselves. Granit Xhaka was immense, now a brilliant, forward-thinking midfielder whose shooting has always been dependable.
3⃣ – 1⃣
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 1, 2022
Granit Xhaka gives Arsenal a two-goal cushion with this beautifully worked goal…pic.twitter.com/quYCrBVxPK
William Saliba is leading the defence at 21. The doubts about Gabriel Jesus’ prolificacy have been overshadowed by his creativity and damned hard work. Martinelli and Bukayo Saka penned back Tottenham’s wing-backs to exacerbate Conte’s frustration.
Derbies are not supposed to be fun for those in the stadium. You might artificially suspend the impact or prevalence of nerves – the Emirates was surrounded by a beery glow on an unseasonably warm late morning – but that only temporarily masks the knots that gather in your stomach.
There are two matches a season when it is acceptable not to look forward to your team playing. All we can ask is to get through them without too many emotional cuts and bruises.
That is what Arsenal supporters will cherish most this week, giggling each time they remember. It wasn’t just that they won their biggest home game. It wasn’t just that they stayed atop the Premier League for at least another week. It wasn’t even that they have reinvented dependables and a sprinkling of magic in their new signings.
It was that, for the final 10 minutes, there were no nerves. They ole’d. They recognised each player in chant. They reminded those leaving of their place in north London hierarchy, for now. They basked in the minutes that are supposed to be the most agonising and they are quickly removing all natural ceilings on the potential of this team and this season.
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