Tottenham fell short of a miraculous comeback and suffered a 3-2 defeat to sworn rivals Arsenal in the North London derby on Sunday afternoon. Spurs went into the game looking to hurt Arsenal’s Premier League title ambitions, but in the end, the Gunners just did enough to take all three points.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg was forced to head into his own net that opened the scoring and while Spurs controlled the ball after that, Arsenal controlled the game and looked dangerous in transition.
Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is growing a reputation for being weak at setpieces and that was evidenced almost every time the Gunners had a corner or a free kick.
one would become two shortly after Arsenal broke forward with Bukayo Saka isolating Ben Davies and placing the ball beyond the hapless Vicario.
Tottenham looked rattled and Arsenal all but secured the game when Kai Havertz headed in the third to confirm a one-sided first half. Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou responded by bringing on Pape Matar Sarr for the ineffective Rodrigo Bentancur.
It was not a matter of how well Arsenal would manage the game before David Raya gifted Cristian Romero a goal to make it 3-1 and hand Spurs a route back into it.
That gave Spurs impetus and when Son Heung-min scored from the penalty spot with six minutes to go the Lilywhites had real hope. Arsenal however held nonetheless to take all three points.
Below is how we rated the Tottenham players out there:
1. Guglielmo Vicario-3
Genuinely could have dominated his area better for the two setpiece goals conceded. Weak on both occasions even if he did make a good save in the second half. | AFP via Getty Images
2. Son Heung-Min-4
Tottenham's captain had a quiet game for his usual standard. Missed a chance when he was through on goal. | AFP via Getty Images
3. Timo Werner - 4
Picked up a hamstring injury and was forced off. | AFP via Getty Images
4. Cristian Romero-6
Takes so much risk and got the reward with his goal. | Getty Images