By Samuel A. September 25, 2023
Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur went head to head in the first North London Derby of the 2023/24 Premier League season and boy, the game had it all. From the four goal thriller, to the fiery moments, Jorginho’s error, Cuti’s howler, VAR controversy, stolen celebrations and more. The only thing missing was a victor as they both shared the spoils in a 2-all draw. Bukayo Saka and Heung-Min Son starred as both teams could not be separated in the pulsating North London derby.
The derby thriller began with Cristian Romero deflecting Saka’s shot into his own net as Arsenal controlled the opening exchanges, but Spurs found a way back in with Son’s leveller three minutes before halftime after an extraordinary save from David Raya, denying Brennan Johnson from getting off the mark.
Romero’s poor afternoon got even worse after half time as he handled Ben White’s shot which looked like it was going in, thus, allowing Saka to restore the Gunners lead from the spot.
Spurs got an equaliser almost straight from the restart as Jorginho, a half time injury substitute for Declan Rice who was having discomfort on his back, gave away the ball sluggishly, allowing James Maddison to pick his pocket. The midfielder rolled the ball to Son for a simple finish past Raya.
At the start of 10 minutes of stoppage time, which lifted the noise levels further, Saka then flashed a deflected effort just wide of Vicario’s post.
Kai Havertz also went close to an Arsenal winner late on, while substitute Richarlison saw a deflected effort fall just wide in the 10th minute of stoppage time.
Ange Postecoglou was pleased with the character his Tottenham side showed to come back twice from a goal down against Arsenal. He hailed two goal hero Son, as well as all of the Tottenham leadership team, made up of Romero, Maddison and Bissouma, who have created a winning culture.
“He’s been outstanding as a leader and as a player,” said Postecoglou of Son. “When you put him in that central position, he just works so hard and team first oriented. His first thought is what is best for the team. He has the quality of finish. Madders was outstanding with both assists. I’m pleased for him, we’re really invested in what we’re doing with him, Madders, Romero and Bissouma off the field. I’m happy we’re getting the rewards. The character, the belief the team showed, it’s the team we want to be. They kept persevering and persevering. There’s a will and desire to become the team we want to be which is making sure you’re disciplined and buying into the team values”.
“We’re not going to dominate Arsenal for 90 minutes, no chance. We just kept playing, didn’t get flustered and lose belief”.
“That’s a good sign as we’ve got challenges for sure. There are more obstacles we need to overcome to become the team we want to be”.
“I don’t have a schedule, so I don’t worry about it. Wherever we are is a good place to go further. I’m not saying it’s going to take a while but the undeniable fact is we’re six games in”.
On the other hand, Mikel Arteta feels like Arsenal lost two points in their 2-2 draw with Tottenham and said it was a tough result to take. Meanwhile, he refused to criticise substitute Jorginho for his mistake that ultimately cost the Gunners two points.
“I love him and we all love him,” said Arteta when asked about Jorginho. “Errors are a part of football”.
“They are allowed to make errors because they play. He is someone who helps the team. We all love him and are with him.”
Arteta said Spurs’ equaliser affected them emotionally in their attempts to find a third goal, but also praised Tottenham for creating a competitive North London derby.
“The energy the boys put in, the attitude was phenomenal. But we lacked composure on the ball against a really good Spurs side,” he added.
“We are disappointed not to get the three points that’s for sure. especially when you go in front twice, especially the moments when we conceded and we could have scored 2-0 with Gabby Jesus. The second goal affected the team emotionally and it became a transitional game, which is a risk if you play against them. Then we lacked the quality in the final third. Credit to them, they have the quality and chances to do that. We have simple giveaways and we didn’t do enough in certain areas to spread out in certain areas.”
The tactical talking point of the game was Heung-Min Son relishing his new role at Tottenham since the departure of Harry Kane. Now playing as a central attacker, the Spurs captain and South Korean international delivered again on the biggest stage with two clinical finishes in Sunday’s pulsating 2-2 draw with fierce rivals Arsenal. His fine performance at the Emirates saw him score for the 150th time for Tottenham and he now has five goals in six Premier League games so far this term, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. As well as scoring from his two shots on target, the South Korea international ended the game with an impressive passing accuracy of 93 per cent, played two key passes, and created one big chance against an impressive and organised Arsenal side.
Son loves playing against the Gunners. After failing to score or assist in his first nine Premier League north London derbies, the 31 year old has since found the net six times and registered two assists in his previous eight games against them. He is also the first Spurs player to score a league brace at Arsenal in over 30 years.
