Emery, Arsenal Top Pochettino, Tottenham in North London Derby

In a game that was essentially won at half-time, Unai Emery continues to push the right buttons at the break, as Mauricio Pochettino sat stunned.

Well that was a North London Derby. Three lead changes, 7 cards, 29 fouls, 48 tackles; that is what one expects in watching a NLD between Arsenal and Tottenham. For a neutral it was a brutal, exciting game; for a Gunners fan, it was a dream; and for a Spurs fan, questions about the squad and tactics again raise their ugly head as Arsenal won 4-2 at Emirates Stadium.

The First Half

The first half felt like a prize fight with a lot action and heavy blows, mostly coming from Arsenal early. Still in the first ten minutes for some unknown reason Jan Vertonghen led fist first while trying to clear an Arsenal corner. Mike Dean was quick to spot the infraction and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stepped up and rolled the ball past Hugo Lloris. More on that later.

Arsenal followed the goal with more heavy pressure and had several chances to add on to the score line as the half continued. Some good feet saves from both Lloris and Dele Alli helped keep the lead at 1.

Heung-Min Son was the main attacking force in the first half for Spurs, generating a couple of runs at goal that resulted in shots. It was Son who was fouled at 29 minutes by Sokratis that set up Tottenham’s first goal. Christian Eriksen then played a nice driven ball into the penalty area from just outside the corner of the box.

Eric Dier, on the first of two deflected goals on the day, made a nice run and met Eriksen’s ball changing the direction just enough to bounce it up and by a sprawling Bernd Leno. Maybe Leno could have done more, but a deflection like that is hard to deal with. It was more a nice play by Dier and Eriksen than an error by Leno.

Following the goal as Dier put his finger to his mouth to ‘hush’ the crowd, a little ruckus ensued near the corner touchline with several Tottenham players and Arsenal substitutes. Somehow out of the events Eric Dier received a card for excessive celebration. Let’s remember that the next time someone hushes the crowd after a goal.

Minutes after the skirmish, following one of several first-half offsides calls on Aubameyang, Son was again attacking the Arsenal final third. This time he ran all the way to the penalty area, where he slammed on the breaks allowing a sliding Rob Holding to come through for an easy penalty from Mike Dean. Harry Kane then stepped up and emphatically slammed the ball into the lower left corner. 2-1 Spurs and they were barely yet in the game.

A Shkodran Mustafi yellow card as the highlight of the rest of the first-half, and then Emery took control of the game.

The Second Half

At the break Unai Emery made a double change, taking off the active but relatively ineffective Alex Iwobi and the less active, but equally ineffective Henrikh Mkhitaryan. In their place Emery inserted Alexandre Lacazette, and Aaron Ramsey, both of whom left a definitive imprint on the game.

While the results from the change was not immediate the switch in tactics for Arsenal was obvious early. In the first half, despite all the possession, a lot of Arsenal’s attack was through long balls, which led to a numerous offsides calls and a lot of aerial dual wins for Spurs. With Ramsey on the field, instead of the long-balls, Arsenal’s back line suddenly had an outlet in Ramsey.

The move paid dividends about ten minutes into the half, when Ramsey was able to pick up the ball near midfield and play it into a flashing Abameyang who curled the ball pasts Lloris. I’m not clear on what happened to Hugo here, as he didn’t stretch on the dive. I have no doubt he will go to bed thinking about that one.

A little more than 15 minutes and one more Arsenal sub later and Lacazette picked up the ball outside the eighteen. He moved to his left across the top of the box and got a fortunate deflection off of a loosely defending Eric Dier to put the third past Lloris and move Arsenal back into the lead.

A few minutes later, Juan Foyth was caught on the ball nonchalantly, when none other than Aaron Ramsey sprung, taking the ball  turning upfield and passing on to Lucas Toerreira for Arsenal’s fourth. Essentially ending the game.

A couple minutes after that Tottenham brought on Harry Winks and Lucas Moura, but it was far too little too late, in a match that Spurs never really adapted too.

Son Still Rising

Heung-Min Son had another excellent game for Spurs. He had three shots, all were on target and it was Son who was fouled leading to both Spurs goals. It is great to see Son continue to produce coming back from a brief period of rest after not participating in the November National Team circuit. Too bad for Son his day was cut short when Moura came on for him at 79 minutes.

Lloris has Looked Better

While none of the goals Hugo Lloris gave up today could be described as a howler, the Spurs captain has had better games. I can’t remember ever seeing Lloris save a penalty in a Tottenham uniform. Aubameyang’s penalty was not that well-taken. With reflexes like Lloris’ I’m not sure why he doesn’t try to react, rather than continue to guess and give the goal away.

As I previously mentioned, I’m not sure what happened on that second Aubameyang goal, maybe he knew he was beat, maybe he thought it was wide, either way, where is the arm stretch?

Center-Halves

Today was not the best moment for the Tottenham center-halves. Maybe it was the comment about the importance of the Arsenal match or maybe it is just that Toby needs a little break, but Juan Foyth and a recently returned Jan Vertonghen were the center-half pairing today. Both made mistakes that led to the Spurs defeat.

Vertonghen had the handball for the first penalty of the game and the 0-1 deficit. Further, his rash clearance late in the game against Lacazette led Mike Dean back to his pocket and a second yellow for Jan. His red card should only be a one-game suspension, but with the fixture pile-up this month it really hurts.

Juan Foyth on the other hand wasn’t terrible for most of the game, in fact after a bad early give-away, he seemed to settle down and play decent enough. Then came the sloppy possession where Ramsey seemed to give Foyth a stiff arm as he took the ball and went on to pass to Torreria for the 4th and final goal.

With Sanchez injured, Vertonghen likely to be suspended, Foyth will likely have to play again midweek versus Southampton. Foyth needs to be a bit more assertive with the ball and learn from this mistake and do so quickly.

Sub-Optimum

I can’t tell you why Pochettino failed to make a substitute until the 79th minute. However, it was clear Spurs were losing in the midfield far before that point in the half and to not react after Arsenal tied the score at 55 seems a lost opportunity. I’m no one to question Pochettino and what he has done for Spurs, but he looked like a deer in headlights today.

Not What?

Spurs don’t have long to wait to get this taste out of their mouths with Tottenham hosting Southampton at Wembley midweek. The team will also get another shot at Arsenal in the Carabao Cup in just 17 days, again at Emirates Stadium.