Arsenal and Spurs took part in a feisty, controversial, and eventful North London Derby on Saturday – just the way we like it.
The North London Derby on Saturday was a match that Tottenham Hotspur was expecting to win. Arsenal are a formidable opponent yes, but with them not having won an away match against a top 6 side in over 4 years, the odds were in Spurs’ favour. Form and records go out the window in these types of derby’s though, and we saw that today.
Arsenal scored early on in stunning fashion, with Aaron Ramsey being sent through on goal from his own half by Lacazette, after a mix-up in the Spurs backline. The Welshman, a notorious big-game performer, proceeded to round Lloris and slot home coolly, silencing Wembley Stadium. Bernd Leno made a highlight-reel double-save on the stroke of half-time, which earned him massive plaudits on social media. Arsenal went into half-time with that lead after a cagey first-half, but the second-half was controversial beyond belief.
https://twitter.com/RealRomfordPele/status/1101833489819807744
Before we get into the juicy portion: Alexandre Lacazette missed a glorious chance to put Arsenal up by 2 early in the second-half. After this, he was clearly frustrated and was subbed off almost instantly. It was this incident that made you feel that this result was far from over – the Gunners have one of the weakest backlines in the Premier League, and a 1-0 lead is never safe for them.
Officiating errors took over late in the 2nd half, as both sides benefitted from them.
Alas, this became true, as an un-necessary body-check from the often brainless Shkodran Mustafi allowed Kane to equalize from a penalty kick. The issue with this came when the replay was shown. Kane was clearly offside on the free-kick entry into the box prior to the foul, and the referees clearly missed it. It wasn’t the only outrageous decision made in this match however…
Two thoughts on Arsenal: of course Aubameyang should have scored from the spot but blame has to go pretty heavily on Mustafi’s shoulders. Spurs could have played all day without scoring the way things were going and, yet again, he shot Arsenal in the foot.
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) March 2, 2019
The match was still there for the taking for either side, but in the dying minutes of the match, the physical intensity of the match dropped, and it seemed like we were very much heading for a 1-1 draw. However, Davinson Sanchez made another mistake in this match, bringing down Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the box in what looked like a needless foul. However, the replay showed that it was pretty soft, and likely wasn’t a penalty.
Aubameyang stepped up to the penalty spot and fired another weak penalty that didn’t find the corner – something that he does far too often – and Lloris made the massive save. On the ensuing play, Vertonghen brilliantly blocked Aubameyang’s 2nd attempt, with the ball flying over the bar. On closer inspection however, it was clear that Vertonghen encroached on the Aubameyang penalty, thus allowing him to get into position faster to make the block on the follow-up. The Gabonese striker’s reputation of being weak in big games added another chapter after this penalty miss, which could have cost Arsenal top 4.
https://twitter.com/LeeGunner82/status/1101852520589283329
Lucas Torreira was shown a red card late in the match for a bad foul, but an earlier foul from Danny Rose where he went studs-up into Bernd Leno’s chest was only given a yellow. Inconsistent and incorrect officiating dominated the headlines of this match, which finished 1-1.
The sides shared the points in a fantastic, entertaining match, and remain 4 points apart in the table. Arsenal have fallen to 5th in the league following Manchester United’s victory, and could fall to 6th if Chelsea win their 2 games in hand.