Defeat Tottenham At North London Derby, Arsenal Approach Liverpool
JAKARTA - Arsenal returned to second place after defeating Tottenham Hotspur's next door in North London Derby aka Derby London Utara. In a duel at the Emirates Stadium, Thursday, January 16, 2025 in the morning WIB, Arsenal won 2-1 so that they managed to cut points as well as approach the leaders of the Liverpool standings.
Arsenal won an important victory. After being humiliated by Manchester United and eliminated in the FA Cup on penalties, Arsenal returned to winning ways in domestic competitions.
Only Arsenal remained gamang when they hosted Tottenham. Even though the visitors have experienced a decline, the derby match still has to be watched out for. Moreover, the North London derby is indeed wrapped in high emotions and is full of prestige.
On the other hand, Arsenal are also on the decline. In the last match in the league, the Gunners lost points after being detained by Brighton and Hove Albion 1-1.
Furthermore, Arsenal were forced to give up 2-0 by Newcastle United in the first semifinal of the Carabao Cup. Arsenal got worse and ended up failing in the FA Cup after losing on penalties against MU. Ironically, the failure occurred in the home game.
This made Arsenal's capital less steady when doing the derby. Moreover, they fell behind through Son Heung-min's goal. However, Mikel Arteta's team managed to get up to turn things around and win at home. This is the third time Arsenal have won the London derby in a season.
The success of winning three points made the Gunners succeed in reclaiming second place as well as shifting Nottingham Forest which fell to third place. Now, Arsenal are pocketing 43 points. Winning two points with Forest.
Arsenal also managed to cut the point gap with Liverpool to four. Only, Liverpool, who previously drew 1-1 against Forest, still have one match left.
Meanwhile, Tottenham, who again picked up bad results in the Premier League, failed to improve their rankings. Ange Postecoglou's team is still stuck in 13th place with 24 points. The same as Crystal Palace, but the Lilywhites are still ahead on goal difference.
Arsenal Without Gabriel Jesus
In that match, both teams played openly. Arsenal who lost Gabriel Jesus relied fully on Kai Havertz. He was supported by Raheem Sterling who replaced Jesus and Leandro Trossard.
Tottenham hopes for Dominic Solanke. But Son, who actually managed to break into Arsenal's goal after his volley changed course and slid into David Raya's goal.
Left behind 1-0, Arsenal tried to get up. After repeatedly meeting a deadlock, their efforts finally succeeded as a result of Solanke's own goal in the 40th minute.
Starting from a corner by Declan Rice and being greeted by Gabriel Magalhaes. Gabriel's header then hit Solanke which resulted in a change of direction. As a result, the ball slid into Tottenham's goal without being saved by goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.
The goal made the Tottenham camp disappointed. The reason is, Arsenal shouldn't have had to get a corner. The score changed to 1-1.
The success of scoring goals makes Arsenal play more aggressively. The hosts did not take long to turn things around.
When the match was over soon, Trossard managed to take advantage of the mistake of Tottenham players who lost the ball in dangerous areas. Evidently, the ball was then controlled by Trossard and his left shot immediately broke into the opponent's goal. Arsenal also closed the first half with a 2-1 advantage.
In the second half, Arsenal and Tottenham continued to attack each other. Arsenal had a good chance to strengthen their lead through Havertz and Martin Odegaard. However, that opportunity failed to be converted into a goal.
Furthermore, it was Tottenham's turn to be able to equalize the score when Pedro Porro almost broke into Arsenal's goal in injury time.
Unfortunately, his shot still hit the pole and the ball rolled out. Arsenal also managed to maintain their lead 2-1 until the game was over.