Tottenham 1-4 Arsenal: Eze torments Spurs again as Gyökores also bags brace
Eberechi Eze once again tormented Tottenham with a brace in Arsenal’s 4-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Eze opened the scoring, but his side were quickly pegged back by Randal Kolo Muani who instantly equalized for Spurs.
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Victor Gyökeres scored his own brace with Eze in the second half to repeat the scoreline in the reverse fixture and move five points clear of Manchester City.
As it happened
Igor Tudor made two changes for his first game in charge of Tottenham, with Joao Palhinha and Randal Kolo Muani coming into the team ahead of Wilson Odobert and Dominic Solanke. Meanwhile, Arsenal brought in Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard, while Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke dropped to the league leaders’ bench after their dramatic 2-2 draw against Wolves on Wednesday night.
It was also Declan Rice’s 100th Premier League outing for the Gunners, while referee Peter Banks made his North London Derby debut. Today’s match has a bigger feel than your usual clash between these two clubs, given the current situation in which the two teams find themselves at opposite ends of the table.
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The first chance of the day went to Victor Gyökeres who saw his header virtually blocked on the line by Radu Dragusin. Moments later, the Romanian defender was called into action again to bail out Vicario after he came out of his penalty area to reach a long ball.
Gyökeres shot narrowly wide of the bottom corner with seven minutes on the clock after clipping his right foot inside the Spurs penalty area. A long stoppage in play followed due to communication problems between Banks and his linesman.
Once the match resumed, Spurs looked to break down the right flank, but a good sweep from David Raya intercepted the pass. Arsenal won the first corner of the day thanks to a superb sliding tackle from Dragusin. Saka was the man to deliver but William Saliba could not guide his header towards the target.
Just after 20 minutes, Arsenal skipper Bukayo Saka was brought down, allowing Declan Rice to deliver a free kick into the Spurs penalty area only for the ball to be comfortably dealt with by the Lilywhites. Jurrien Timber received the first yellow card of the match for a foul on Pape Matar Sarr.
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It was Eze who broke the deadlock after 31 minutes by scoring his fourth derby goal of his short Gunners career, this time sweeping in from close range after a low Saka cross to open the scoring. The lead did not last long as Spurs immediately equalized through Kolo-Muani who shot past Raya with his right foot after passing Saliba after Rice made a rare but fatal error. Archie Gray received a yellow card after the goal for kicking the ball.
Shortly before the break, Trossard came close to putting Arsenal back in front but his shot failed to find the far corner. Eight minutes of added time were called, largely due to earlier communication problems. Eze shot high and wide of the Spurs goal just before half-time, leaning far too far back for his long-range effort.
Arsenal continued to press for a second goal, but without success, closing the first half with the score tied.
As the players returned to the field before the 45 seconds mark, another stoppage was called due to further technical issues between the officials. However, almost as soon as play resumed, Gyökeres restored Arsenal’s lead with a sensational strike which curled into the top corner, sending the Arsenal fans into rapture.
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Spurs looked to grab another equalizer through Kolo-Muani, but that was ruled out due to a foul on Gabriel. Arsenal made their first change just before the hour mark, with Timber being taken off for Cristhian Mosquera in the Gunners backline.
A few minutes later, Vicario was called into action after a nice play between Eze and Saka allowed the latter to shoot. However, soon after, Eze pounced on a loose ball to extend Arsenal’s advantage and double his tally for the afternoon as he tapped into a virtually empty net… his fifth goal in the North London Derby in only his second game!
The hosts responded with an attacking substitution as Connor Gallagher made way for Solanke. Kolo Muani committed a foul with just over 20 minutes to go, his last act of the match before being replaced by Richarlison.
Trossard fired a shot from the edge of the box, but his curling effort sailed well wide of Vicario’s post and away towards the Arsenal fans. Moments later, Saka fired a left-footed strike into the side netting as Arsenal continued to search for a fourth goal.
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The ‘oles’ started to come from the Gunners fans as their team continued to dominate possession as they began to finish this game off. A double change occurred shortly after as Eze and Trossard’s afternoons drew to a close, allowing Martin Ødegaard and Martinelli to be introduced. Spurs made their final change with less than 10 minutes remaining as Mathys Tel replaced Palhinha.
The hosts came incredibly close to coming back through Richarlison in the 83rd minute, but the Brazilian was denied by Raya who managed to force the ball off the line to avoid a nervy final minutes in the capital.
Yves Bissouma received a yellow card from the referee for dissidence, his second of the season. Saka committed a foul on the edge of his own area with two minutes of regulation time remaining, before being treated by the medical team after grabbing his shin. With seven minutes of extra time announced, the England international was replaced by Madueke.
Raya was called into action again in added time, this time for a much simpler save as he collected a looping header from Tel. Gyökeres found the net again in the dying moments as he battled past Archie Gray and fired the ball past Vicario into the far corner, confirming the Swede’s player of the match performance.
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Arsenal have won both derbies 4-1 this season, and today was their biggest away victory against Spurs since the 5-0 win at White Hart Lane almost 50 years ago. The Gunners have now won four derbies in a row at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as they push their bitter rivals closer to the relegation zone and maintain their place at the top of the table.