By Josh James
WHAT HAPPENED
We came from a goal behind to deservedly win a dramatic north London derby.
It was no less than we deserved after a largely dominant performance, but we had to dig deep after Erik Lamela gave the visitors the lead.
Martin Odegaard levelled up before the break and captain for the day Alexandre Lacazette scored the winner from the penalty spot.
There were some late nervy moments - despite playing the last 15 minutes with an extra man after Lamela's red card - but we held on for a well-deserved confidence boosting win.
There's no doubt we made most of the early running, and we certainly were looking positive in possession, trying to mov the ball forward through the organised Tottenham rearguard.
Despite seeing plenty of the ball though, we didn't have a clear sight at goal until Emile Smith Rowe rattled the crossbar with a fine attempt from 20 yards. Hugo Lloris was well beaten in the visitors' goal, but the ball bounced away to safety.
Smith Rowe was the architect of our next chance, cutting the ball back from the byline to the lurking Alexandre Lacazette, but the Frenchman screwed his shot wide from six yards after attempting to open up his body and shoot across goal.
But our dominance began to fade and we were punished on the half hour. Lamela - an early replacement for Heung-Min Son - showed great technique to score inside the far post.
The goal was very much against the run of play, but we kept pushing and hit the woodwork for a second time when Cedric latched onto a loose ball just inside the box and crashed his effort against the upright.
We deserved to be on terms, and finally drew level late in the half through Odegaard. Kieran Tierney got away down the left, sent in a low cross which the Norwegian steered beyond Lloris via a deflection off Toby Alderweireld.
It was his second goal in four days after opening his account in Greece on Thursday.
It would have been an injustice to go in behind at the interval, and we continued to dictate the play early in the second half.
Nicolas Pepe was introduced for Bukayo Saka at the break, and the Ivorian's wonderful pass to Lacazette inside the box resulted in a penalty. Lacazette failed to make good contact with his shot, but was cleaned out by Davinson Sanchez. Referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot and Lacazette himself dispatched.
Lamela saw red for an elbow on Tierney, but perversely the visitors improved after going down to ten men.
Harry Kane headed home a free-kick but was flagged offside as Spurs piled on the late pressure.
Kane then struck the post from a free-kick and Gabriel made a superb clearing header to keep out Sanchez's follow up strike.
It was nervy, but we held on for a thoroughly deserved victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Click here to relive the north London derby play-by-play
WHAT IT MEANS
WHAT'S NEXT
The big games keep coming. We host Olympiacos in the second leg of the Europa League Round of 16 on Thursday, protecting a 3-1 lead from the first leg. Premier League action resumes next weekend with a trip to West Ham United before a two-week break for international football.
TEAM NEWS
Mikel Arteta made three changes from the side that won in Greece on Thursday, the most surprising of which was the omission of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. 'Disciplinary reasons' according to the boss. Alexandre Lacazette took his place up front - and the armband - with Cedric for Hector Bellerin and Emile Smith Rowe for Willian the other changes.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
