Arsenal battered an over-matched, hapless Spurs side 4-1 to go six points clear at the top of the Premier League table. “Mind the gap” is a common refrain when talking about Arsenal and Spurs — today,
the Gunners made clear that it’s a chasm that separates the two sides. Only one of the two teams on the pitch came to play today. That was a battering. A shellacking. An evisceration.
Thomas Frank set up with five at the back, clearly trying to muck up the match and rely on set pieces. And set piece specialists Arsenal tore them apart in open play anyway. The Gunners nearly opened the scoring inside the opening five minutes, but a smart Vicario save on Declan Rice and a fortunate bounce wide of the net to avoid an own goal on the rebound kept the match level.
For a while, it looked as if Frank’s tactics were working. Spurs mostly kept Arsenal at arm’s length, ceding possession, not generating any attack of their own, but keeping the Gunners off the scoreboard. But to play that way, you’ve got to be nearly perfect defensively, and in the 36th minute, Spurs made two horrible errors. First, Mikel Merino was given enough time in the middle of the attacking third to pick up his head, sort out his feet, make a cup of tea, spot Leandro Trossard’s run, and hit a gorgeous killer pass to the Belgian. Second, Destiny Udogie was two or three steps behind the rest of the defensive line, holding Trossard onside. The Belgian received the ball, pirouetted, and guided the ball into the bottom corner. It was as lovely an Arsenal goal as it was terrible Tottenham defending.
The Gunners doubled their lead through Ebere Eze five minutes later. The Arsenal man collected a half-clearance from a Jurrien Timber cross and found himself in a bit of space at the edge of the box. He ripped a shot that Vicario’s fingertips, which he got to it, had no chance of turning aside.
As the sides came out after halftime, I tweeted (Blueskied?) that Arsenal need to stay on Spurs, not sit back and protect the lead. Ebere Eze scored one minute into the second half, curling a left-footed shot into the bottom corner that he knew was in the moment it left his foot. You could see — he’d already peeled away to start celebrating before it hit the back of the net.
Eze got his hat trick in the 76th minute. You really have to question Tottenham’s strategy of giving Ebere Eze, probably Arsenal’s best ball-striker, time and space in and around their box. Eze could have (and maybe should have) made it four just minutes after notching his third, but Vicario made a diving save on a shot that could have been placed a bit better.
The only blemish on the day was a Richarlison wondergoal that made it 3-1. Zubimendi got caught on the ball from basically a nothing play just inside midfield. David Raya, as he is meant to be, was out of his goal to provide a passing option. He wasn’t able to scramble back in time to keep out the Brazilian’s excellent shot from extremely long range. Is there anything more Spursy than having their two best goals as a club against Arsenal — that Richarlison goal and the Lamela rabona (that won the Puskas Award!) — be rendered completely meaningless by blowout losses?
It just had to be Ebere Eze, didn’t it? The boyhood Arsenal fan and young academy player, who nearly moved to Spurs at the deadline, scoring a hat trick in his first North London Derby. You could see the emotion on Ebere’s face, particularly after the second goal. If you were writing a script, they’d probably criticize your story for being too obvious.
Eze’s hat trick was just the fourth ever in a North London Derby and the first in a Premier League NLD. Ted Drake scored one for Arsenal in 1934, Terry Dyson for Spurs in 1961, and Alan Sunderland for Arsenal in 1978. It took Ebere Eze one (1) NLD to do what neither Harry Kane nor Son Heung-min could do — score a North London Derby hat trick.
The focus will be on Eze (and rightfully so) but we shouldn’t let it overshadow Leandro Trossard’s performance. The Belgian was fantastic. He scored the opener and was integral on two (I think) of Eze’s goals. Declan Rice was his usual, dominating and commanding presence in the middle. Piero Hincapie slid right in at CB, playing like an experienced veteran in his first Premier League start for the club (which came in an NLD – a big ask!).
As for Spurs, man I don’t know. They’re not good. They generated just 0.07 xG today, which might be the worst performance the club has ever had, at least in the advanced-stats era. That figure sets a new low beneath the 0.12 xG they generated two PL matches ago against Chelsea. I don’t think you can sack Thomas Frank this early into the season but also after those two showings, how can you not?
I don’t think their issue is a tactical one, either. I think it’s talent. Their players simply aren’t very good! Compare their starting XI to Arsenal’s today. Even with all the injuries among Mikel Arteta’s squad, would any Tottenham players start for the Gunners? Before today, you could argue that you’d take Micky van de Ven over Piero Hincapie, mostly because the Ecuadorian was an unknown quantity. As much as people like the Dutch CB because of his physical attributes, he turns into a puddle of goo with the ball at his feet under the slightest pressure. I like Mo Kudus — he’s energetic and makes things happen but he has one goal and five assists in nearly 1,200 minutes in all competitions. Leandro Trossard has four and four in 832 minutes in all comps. Christian Romero is…fine? I guess.
But that’s the thing, Tottenham are mostly a bunch of average-ish Premier League players. Arsenal have stars all over the pitch. Arsenal should batter Tottenham. Today, they did just that! I don’t mean for that to take away from the celebration. In a way, it should add to it. Arsenal are great and Tottenham are directionless. Our starts showed up and showed out. The days of that (ridiculous) talk of a “power shift” in North London are long gone. Arsenal are clearly and convincingly the better side. North London is RED!
