Tottenham 0-1 Arsenal (Gabriel 64′)
Gabriel Magalhaes’ towering heading proved the difference as Arsenal edged rivals Tottenham 1-0 in the north London derby.
Spurs started the brighter but struggled to find a way through their rivals’ defence, with Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson both going close in the first half.
But despite missing the key midfield duo of Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, Arsenal stamped their authority on the game and broke the deadlock on the hour as Gabriel rose highest to fire home Bukayo Saka’s corner.
The win moves Arsenal to within two points of Manchester City ahead of their meeting next weekend.
Here’s how every player rated out of 10:
Tottenham
Guglielmo Vicario: Made a couple of decent saves, including one from Kai Havertz to keep the score level, until his usual set-piece weakness revealed itself 6/10
Pedro Porro: Spurs’ best player on the pitch. Refused to give up. Did well to neutralise the threat of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard on the right wing 7/10
Cristian Romero: Solid defensively, if not spectacular, although he could maybe have done more for the goal 6/10
Micky van de Ven: Looked relatively comfortable at the back before the goal. Saw a glancing header saved by David Raya 6/10
Destiny Udogie: Engaged in a running battle with Bukayo Saka, with mixed success. Made a couple of nice overlapping runs too, although he maybe could do more in the final third 6/10
Dejan Kulusevski: Put in a shift as he worked tirelessly to win possession. Couldn’t unlock the defence, however 6/10
Rodrigo Bentancur: Guilty of going missing for the goal which saw him replaced shortly afterwards 6/10
James Maddison: Tried to make something happen every time he got on the ball. Bizarrely replaced, as he looked like the only player capable of opening Arsenal up 7/10
Brennan Johnson: Spurned a good chance to give Spurs the lead. Needs to work on his end product. Replaced by Wilson Odobert 5/10
Dominic Solanke: Still waiting for his first Spurs goal after coming close to opening his account on a couple of occasions 6/10
Son Heung-min: A nice turn left Ben White in the dust in the first half. Faded after the break and couldn’t trouble Arsenal often enough. Can and should do better for a player of his calibre 6/10
Substitutes:
Pape Matar Sarr: 6/10
Wilson Odobert: 6/10
Timo Werner: N/A
Arsenal
David Raya: Safe hands and proactive distribution settled some Arsenal nerves early on. Lucky not to concede when dropping the ball under pressure from Solanke only for referee to intervene, otherwise solid enough 7/10
Ben White: Excellent pass for Saka carved open Spurs defence but then a couple of sloppy errors to cede momentum as Arsenal began to grow into game. Not at his usual best going forward but kept Son mostly quiet 7/10
Jurrien Timber: A touch unfortunate to escape with a yellow for a high tackle on Porro. Enjoyed a feisty tussle with Johnson down the left and got the better of the Spurs man 8/10
William Saliba: Often found himself marking thin air as Solanke hovered around Gabriel but didn’t put a foot wrong in an excellent Arsenal defensive display 8/10
Gabriel Magalhaes: Huge leap and unstoppable header to break the deadlock, even if slightly fortunate not to be penalised for a push on Romero. Defensively flawless too despite tough battle with the physical Solanke. Excellent display 9/10
Thomas Partey: Misplaced pass to Saka and caught ball-watching as Kulesevski fired the first shot on target. Tracked back well on a number of occasions to stymie Spurs attacks 7/10
Jorginho: Looked a touch off the pace early on but helped Arsenal settle by recycling possession from the base of midfield. Faded as the game wore on but perhaps understandable given lack of game time 5/10
Bukayo Saka: Seems to relish the animosity from Tottenham’s fans. Some poor corner deliveries early on but more than made up for it with perfect cross to set up Gabriel’s goal. Relatively quiet otherwise 7/10
Gabriel Martinelli: Goalscoring struggles continued despite getting better of Porro. Poor finish when through on goal in Arsenal’s first clear chance and couldn’t get the ball out of his feet on a few other occasions 5/10
Leandro Trossard: Bypassed as Spurs made the early running. Looked bright when the ball did find him but couldn’t influence the game as Odegaard’s deputy 5/10
Kai Havertz: Dropped deep into the No 10 spot in Odegaard’s absence but failed to influence game. Sharp header that drew excellent save from Vicario his only telling contribution 6/10
Substitutes
Raheem Sterling 5/10
Gabriel Jesus 5/10