Evening Standard
·15 de janeiro de 2025
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·15 de janeiro de 2025
Gunners bounce back from recent painful defeats to complete double over north London rivals
Gabriel was again involved in an Arsenal set-piece goal
Bradley Collyer/PA Wire
Arsenal scored twice in four minutes to come from behind and beat Tottenham 2-1 in a typically entertaining north London derby.
The Gunners, coming into the match off the back of cup defeats to Newcastle and Manchester United, made a quick start and were firmly on top, but fell behind against the run of play as Heung-min Son’s deflected strike found the bottom corner.
Arsenal won a regular stream of corners and it was no surprise when their equaliser came from one of them. Declan Rice swung the cross to the back post, where Gabriel was waiting to head in with the help of a big touch from Dominic Solanke.
Spurs were then dealt a further blow just before half-time as they fell behind, Antonin Kinsky unconvincing as he allowed Leandro Trossard’s left-footed strike to beat him.
Ange Postecoglou took off Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma at half-time to be replaced by James Maddison and Brennan Johnson, leaving Lucas Bergvall almost as a one-man midfield at times.
It was no surprise, then, that the second-half was a more open affair, but the best chances fell to Arsenal. Kai Havertz headed one big chance wide and another straight at Kinsky, while Raheem Sterling and Trossard also failed to make the most of decent openings.
Martin Odegaard should have put the match to bed with five minutes remaining after he was picked up by Kieran Tierney, but the Arsenal captain somehow failed to hit the target from close-range.
Missed chances cost Arsenal in their recent defeats but not here, as they held on for another derby win and one that moves them to within four points of Liverpool, who do still have a game in hand.