Most had said it was an opportunity for Tottenham. They had argued that, with Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, their inspiration and their soul, out with injury and suspension, that Mikel Arteta’s side would never be more vulnerable. This North London derby was Spurs’ moment.
But Arteta had disagreed. He had said the game represented an opportunity for Arsenal, an opportunity to prove they could beat their fiercest rivals even though they were depleted, an opportunity to eschew the temptation to make excuses, an opportunity to stand up.
Arsenal heeded Arteta’s call. They survived a hectic, untidy first half when it felt they were sometimes outperformed in central midfield and they were grateful to Spurs’ inability to take a couple of fine chances that were presented to them.
And then, in the 64th minute, Gabriel rose highest at a corner to head firmly past Guglielmo Vicario and the game was won. Spurs huffed and puffed for the rest of the second half but they never looked like getting an equaliser. North London, once again, was red.
The victory moved Arteta’s side to second in the table and put behind them the hiccup of their draw with Brighton a fortnight ago when Rice had been sent off for a second yellow card he earned when delaying the restart.
More relevantly, it felt like an important restatement of their title credentials. They know from bitter experience there can be no excuses and a bare minimum of dropped points, whether that be at home to Leicester City or away to Spurs, if they are to have a prayer of dethroning Manchester City.
That was their mantra at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. No excuses. They did not seek any and they did not need any. They might not quite have been able to call themselves the better team because there was not much to choose between the two. But Arsenal won and that was all that mattered. They won and now they must keep winning.
This win was also a morale-boosting triumph for the strength of their squad. Jorginho and Gabriel Martinelli came in for Rice and Odegaard and played their part in providing the foundation for the victory. Gabriel and William Saliba were the best players on the pitch.
It is too soon to talk about Ange Postecoglou being under any real pressure at Spurs despite the fact that they have only won one of their opening four games. Their summer signing Dominic Solanke missed their best chance in the first half but they did not play badly. They are good enough and ambitious enough that results will start to come.
Spurs had made a promising start. Solanke, back after injury, used a run from Heung-Min Son as a decoy before advancing down the left and passing the ball to the Spurs skipper. Son’s cut-back found Dejan Kulusevski and his shot was saved by David Raya.
Spurs should have taken the lead when their relentless high press forced the Arsenal defence into what should have been a costly mistake. Arsenal attempted to pass their way out from the back but when the ball was deflected into the path of Solanke with only Raya to beat, he hesitated and allowed time for a saving tackle.
Soon after, Saliba was booked for delaying the restart after an Arsenal foul. After what befell Rice a fortnight ago, you might have thought Arsenal would have learned that lesson by now.
Gradually, Arsenal began to gain a foothold in the game. Vicario flung himself headlong to his left to push out a powerful header from Kai Havertz and if Martinelli had squared a pass to Bukayo Saka instead of trying to score himself a few minutes later, the visitors would have been ahead.
The game flowed fast and fluently now. Son ran at Ben White and slipped a pass to James Maddison. Maddison curled it to the back post where Solanke forced himself in front of his marker and looped a header across goal that fell agonisingly wide.
Jurrien Timber was booked for a foul on Pedro Porro and Porro’s hysterical reaction helped create a melee that saw Vicario cautioned for attempting to exact a kind of retribution. It raised the temperature of an already febrile occasion.
There were no goals before half-time but there were more bookings. Micky van de Ven and Kulusevski were cautioned in quick succession to bring the total to seven, a Premier League record for the first half. Postecoglou staggered around in his technical area with his head in his hands as if he could not believe it.
The game grew more attritional after the break. There was even a breather in the bookings. Raya tried to copy Manchester City’s tactics on Saturday by bypassing the press with a long ball up front. City had Erling Haaland to aim at but Raya could only pick out Saka, who was marked by Van de Ven. It was no contest.
Saka soon found another way to make his mark. He curled in a corner midway through the half that was hit with pace into the six-yard-box. Gabriel shoved Romero as the ball was in flight and then rose unchallenged to power his header past Vicario from close range.
Arsenal have now scored 23 goals from set pieces since the start of last season in the Premier League, the most of any side, and it had felt for much of the match as if it would be decided that way here, too.
Raheem Sterling came on for Martinelli ten minutes from the end to make his Arsenal debut and remind everyone watching that Arsenal have made a recent habit of making smart signings to bolster their title challenge.
This was a victory for the collective, the kind of win that will add momentum and steel to a challenge to a City team that is not yet showing any signs of cracking. That was why Arsenal’s win here in enemy territory, and the steely manner of it, was so important.