Arsenal keeps title hopes alive with victory in London’s neighborly dispute

NOS Football•today, 5:02 PM

Arsenal did very well in the ‘North London Derby’ against Tottenham Hotspur. With a 2-3 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it seems that Arsenal and Manchester City will decide who will become champion of England in the coming weeks.

Arsenal did not start the match against their rival very strongly, Tottenham was much more eager in the opening phase.

Manchester City is in action against Nottingham Forest at 5:30 PM:

So eager, in fact, that Arsenal’s opening goal was scored by a player from the home team. A corner kick from Bukayo Saka ended up at the near post, where Pierre-Emile Højbjerg thought he headed the ball away. However, the Dane defeated his own goalkeeper with his headbutt: 0-1.

The equalizer seemed only a matter of time. First Cristian Romero headed a sharp cross from James Maddison onto the post and then Micky van de Ven actually seemed to score the equalizer.

A corner kick was not cleared properly by Arsenal and Van de Ven received a reintroduced ball in his feet. The Dutchman shot convincingly, but the VAR canceled his goal. The defender had been offside.

That decision naturally led to cheering Arsenal players and supporters.

The cheers became even louder when Saka immediately signed for the 0-2. A beautiful cross pass from Kai Havertz was handled excellently by the winger. With a cutting movement, Saka got rid of Ben Davies, where he shot into the far corner.

Even before half time, the game seemed decided when Havertz was completely released from a corner kick. His header made it 0-3. It was the eighth goal in the last eleven games for the German. He also provided five assists in those games.

But Spurs got back into the game. After Saka should have made it 0-4 on a pass from Trossard, the game pattern changed.

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya helped a lot. The goalkeeper kicked the ball out, but hit it so badly that it ended up at Romero’s feet. The Argentinian gratefully took advantage of that gift (1-3).

Just before the end, Spurs were offered some extra help. Declan Rice tried to clear a ball, but overlooked Davies. He tapped the ball away just before Rice hit it, which caused the Tottenham left back pain in an unpleasant spot, but also a penalty.

Son Heung-min scored convincingly, after which a hectic final phase followed. But Arsenal held on and took the win.

Bournemouth recorded a convincing victory elsewhere in the Premier League. They won 3-0 at home against Brighton & Hove Albion.

The victory was even more beautiful for Justin Kluivert, he signed for the final chord just before the end.