Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Arsenal
Jose Mourinho’s Spurs returned to the top of the Premier League tonight with a clinical performance to beat Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Chelsea’s 3-1 victory over Leeds United took the Blues back to the top of the table last night, but by the time the half-time whistle had gone in this contest, Spurs’ lethal strike pairing of Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane had taken the game away from their local rivals.
The result leaves Arsenal languishing in 15th place and without a victory in six league games. Head coach Mikel Arteta has already won two trophies in his 12 months in charge at the Emirates but, while his team had plenty of possession tonight, it is miles away from challenging in the Premier League.
Highlights of the game
How many times have we seen Kane and Son combine for a goal already this season? Well, it became ten within 12 minutes of this match and this was an absolute classic. The Spurs defence cleared an Arsenal attack and when Kane received the ball in midfield he took one touch before spreading it out to his partner on the left wing. Son cut inside at pace and, as the Gunners’ defence dropped off, he stroked a beauty into the top right corner from 25 yards out to send the 2,000 fans in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium wild.
Take a look at this weekend’s Premier League 2020 highlights, this goal was a belter and with nine goals from his first ten games Heung-Min Son has shown just how dangerous he is, and he’s now, undeniably, a world class player.
The Gunners were always going to find it tough to break Spurs down from that point.
Arsenal’s attack has been blunt in recent weeks and, while they had plenty of possession, they didn’t trouble Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal throughout the first half. The hosts just soaked up the pressure and, right on half time, they made it two with another devastating counter attack. Spurs broke at speed and when they reached the Arsenal box Son slipped a pass to Kane and he fired an unstoppable shot in off the crossbar for his eighth of the season.
Son and Kane…11 and counting.
Lloris had a save to make early in the second half when Alexandre Lacazette met a cross from Bukayo Saka and glanced a header towards goal; then Kieran Tierney fired in a superb centre which Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang headed over. Spurs were happy to sit back and, halfway through the second period Lacazette again tested Lloris when he met a cross from Hector Bellerin but the Spurs keeper acrobatically kept it out.
Jose Mourinho knows how to set a team up to frustrate and this was a master class.
Key Statistics
The pre-match SBOTOP odds had Spurs at 1.92 to win, and so they did. But Arsenal had 69 per cent possession and won the shot count by 11 to six. The Gunners only managed two efforts on target though, while Spurs had three and two went in!
Classic Jose.
Spurs skipper Harry Kane just keeps on breaking records. Today he assisted his tenth Premier League goal in 11 games. No player has made ten assists in fewer games in the history of the competition.
Meanwhile, Mourinho, as a Premier League coach at Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs has never lost to Arsenal at home, 11 games in total.
What’s next?
Next up, Spurs are at home to Antwerp in the Europa League, they have already qualified for the knockout phase, but can top Group J with a win in Belgium. Then they have two away games in the Premier League. First they make the short trip to South London to face Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace who had a thumping 5-1 win over West Brom today and then, on Wednesday 16th December, Spurs’ title credentials will be tested by a visit at Anfield to face current champions Liverpool.
The latest Premier League 2020 betting odds judge Spurs to be one of four teams with a realistic chance of winning the league title, alongside Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea. The game in Liverpool will tell us just how close Mourinho’s men are.
Arsenal have had more success in Europe than at home, topping Group B of the Europa League with five wins from five, and this week they are away to Dundalk, before returning to Premier League action with two tricky home games against improving Burnley and high flying Southampton.
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