How Arsenal Won the North London Derby
And the inevitable happened. The fierce rivalry on social media was hardly seen on the pitch. Arsenal were purely on top of things, Spurs were no match. We’ll talk about various tactical aspects of the game in this post.
Mikel wanted total control, evident from the starting 11. Many of us thought that against a quality attack like Spurs’, Tierney would be a better choice. But it was Zinchenko who started, providing further control. We didn’t just wanna win, but win with domination.
Arsenal were the driving force from the beginning, putting immense pressure throughout the game, starting from the very first minute. Control, chance creation, dominance- Arsenal topped it all.
Arsenal built the play from the back, despite Spurs’ high press to win the ball. They usually built in 3-2, something we have been seeing a lot this season. Spurs tried to press high, but Since Saka-Martinelli pinned their wingbacks, their press proved ineffective.
Arsenal progressed the ball both in settled play and transition, in a 2-3-5 shape. Fullbacks inverted, Xhaka moved up, and the front 5 occupied all the lanes. Progression was easy, as Spurs sat in deep block, and eventually played in Arsenal’s hands.
Since Arsenal built from the back, Spurs showed intent to win the ball high. They pressed Arsenal, and tried to win the ball. But their fullbacks couldn’t back the press, Saka and Gabi pinned them deep. So, the high press proved ineffective.
Eventually, they had to settle in a 5-4-1 compact shape, deep block. But using their narrow middle 4, Arsenal progressed the ball easily to the final third, thanks to the inversion of White and Zinchenko. Spurs were well and truly pinned back.
Out of possession, Arsenal pressed very high up the pitch, disrupting Spurs’ build up play. Wingers inverted to press the centre halves, backed by both fullbacks, with Saliba joining in the last line often. Spurs couldn’t progress at all in possession, kept losing the ball.
Pinning Spurs back, Arsenal started creating from settled play, Arsenal’s favorite situation. They created through overloads, linking, combination plays and so on. Arsenal created enough chances for the scoreline to be a much bigger one.
The first big chance of the half was when Martinelli hit the post from Saka’s cross. Overload on the right, Gabi is free on the left. So, Saka’s cross finds Gabi, and he is unfortunate not to score, despite a brilliant hit.
Talking about the first goal, Arsenal are creating in settled play, and Saka is one v one against Perisic. Son joins to make it 2v1. Everyone else is occupied with 5 Arsenal players in the box. So, Partey has free space and zero pressure, and shows his quality to make the most of it.
The second goal was also no luck. You keep pressuring something, it will eventually break. Saka again gets the better of Perisic, who is fooled by White’s overlapping run, and Saka creates angle for a good shot. Lloris fumbles, and Jesus scores.
The third goal, we got the ball back, and made the most of the transition opportunity. Through the compact block of Spurs, Martinelli gets the ball, passes it to advancing Xhaka, and an accurate bottom corner finish ends the game.
It was a big test for Saliba, dealing with one of the greatest strikers of the generation. He didn’t just pass the test with flying colors, he just absolutely bullied the entire Spurs attack. Such composure at 21 is unprecedented in a centre half.
Gabriel, smh. He is gonna be the death of me. The weakest link in our otherwise brilliant backline, and not because of his defending or passing range. He is technically weak, and lacks composure. He will make us suffer a lot more, at this rate.
As for the MVP, I thought it was a close tie between him and Partey. Partey had an excellent game as well, both defensively and offensively. His game reading out of possession is what we miss when he is out, and that makes the difference.
Ben White yet again had an excellent game, but under the radar. Could have had another assist if Jesus hadn’t missed that from point blank. He is like a ball playing DM, a ball winning Destroyer, and a pacey fullback in one package. Blessed.
There’s still room for improvement, though. The boys need to be more clinical for starters. Jesus played so well, but when he had to finish, he failed, twice. The forwards have to be much more clinical if Arsenal are to sustain their form.
Overall, Arsenal showed the intent right from the off, and despite the penalty, they didn’t seem distracted for a second. After a dominating first half, they started the second half strongly, and eventually finished the game with complete and utter domination.
I did predict for a dominating performance from Arsenal, and it was a joy to see Arsenal successfully accomplish that. If Arsenal don’t make silly mistakes, their first team have the ability to dominate every team in the league.
