Tottenham 3-0 Arsenal: 3 talking points from north London derby

Tottenham has defeated Arsenal 3-0 in the latest installment of the north London derby. A first-half double from Harry Kane sent Spurs on their way, with Rob Holding shown his marching orders to gift their rivals a win. Son Heung-Min added a third just after halftime to complete the rout.

Mikel Arteta kept the same starting XI that defeated Leeds last time out, with Eddie Nketiah again leading the line as they looked to secure Champions League football.

After a cagey opening 20 minutes, Spurs had the chance to take the lead when Cedric pushed into the back of Son Heung-Min, and referee Paul Tierney pointed to the spot. Harry Kane stepped up and slotted home his shot to give Spurs the lead.

It got worse for Arsenal just 12 minutes later. Rob Holding was shown a second yellow for a block on Son and was shown his marching orders to give the visitors a mountain to climb. Just minutes later, Spurs doubled their lead. From a corner the ball was flicked on by Rodrigo Bentancur to the back post, where Harry Kane glided in and headed home as Arsenal was crumbling.

Tottenham 3-0 Arsenal: 3 talking points from north London derby as Gunners lose ground on Premier League top four against Antonio Conte’s side

Arsenal managed to get to halftime without any more damage, as the game was essentially over in the first 45.

The second half got off to the worse possible start for Arsenal as, just 75 seconds after the restart, Son had the ball in the net. After neat work from Kane, the ball broke kindly for Son, who lashed home.

The second half petered out with little to no willingness from either side to make a go of it as Spurs sealed a memorable win to keep the race for the top four wide open.

A hotly anticipated Premier League game provided plenty of talking points, here they are.

Crowning Moment Lost

Win and secure Champions League football. That is all Arsenal had to do against Spurs, and they failed, miserably.

After a relatively positive start, Arsenal looked in good shape, however it sucked the air out of the squad once the penalty was given.

With two games to go, the Gunners still hold favoritism for a top four spot, being a point ahead of Spurs. But now it gets nervy. Away to Newcastle and then home to Everton is the task for Mikel Arteta’s side. If the game just passed was the biggest one of the season, just you wait for Monday.

This was a huge chance to take away all the nervousness, anxiety, and everything about qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition. Now, Arsenal faces a challenging last two games that they simply have to win.

It was all there tonight to make a statement, and Arsenal made one, but the wrong one. If there is one positive to come out of this battering, it is that destiny is still firmly in Arsenal’s hands.

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Gabriel and Rob Holding Defensive Crisis – At the Worst Time

Not that there is ever a good time for a crisis, Arsenal has got one at the most inopportune moment. With Rob Holding’s red card and Gabriel limping off with a hamstring injury, the back four is decimated when it is needed most.

Cedric, possibly Benjamin White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Nuno Tavares could be the back four against Newcastle. That is scary and unwanted.

When everything was lined up for the Gunners, the football gods intervened. Newcastle is on the up and Everton are fighting for their lives to stave off relegation. With a second-choice backline, many rightly fear for Arsenal in the upcoming fortnight.

While it is not the end of the world, as the Gunners still possess all the attacking talent necessary to secure wins in both games, just what the mental scarring will be from this Spurs thrashing could prove telling.

Everything that could go wrong for Arsenal tonight did. They now have to dust themselves off and go again, but that is easier said than done.

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Dubious Decisions and Non-Decisions

The penalty call in the first half was anything but straightforward. While there was contact between Cedric and Son, those are often let go. But, for some reason tonight, it was given.

It is what it is, but this is becoming a rather concerning theme for Arsenal, especially away from home. Make of that what you will.

The argument could be made that had that happened in the Arsenal box the play would have been waved on. Now, that is not why Arsenal collapsed – more so the red card – but the penalty sucked the life out of the squad, and that is the next step in their development: mental fortitude.

We have seen it at times this season, but they needed to show it tonight. Was the referee a little trigger happy? Potentially. But he gave the call, and it has to be accepted, yet when incidents that are worse than that are let go, you wonder why that was called and others weren’t.

A little snippet of Son elbowing Rob Holding made its way into the public eye in the first half, which left many wondering why VAR did not look at that. In the end, Arsenal, as for some reason often happens, gets the rough end of the stick.

All is not lost; win the remaining two games and secure Champions League football.

Simple right?