Arsenal came from behind to complete a stunning turnaround victory in the north London derby. Source - Arsenal FC.
It was no less than we deserved, making most of the running, creating the better chances, and looking dangerous for the majority of this pulsating encounter, save for a damaging five-minute period in the first half.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave us the lead from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, but the game turned against us with two controversial Spurs goals on the half-hour mark.
Once again we showed tremendous character to bounce back in the second half, levelling with another superb finish from Aubameyang. From then on we took control again. Half-time substitutes Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette combined for the third goal and three minutes later Lucas Torreira scored his first for the club to seal a memorable victory.
Unai Emery selected an unchanged XI from our last Premier League game for his first ever north London derby, and we penned back Tottenham from the whistle, starting with an intensity that has often been lacking in the first half of games this season.
Aubameyang headed over from a Henrikh Mkhitaryan cross in the opening 10 minutes before he stroked home his penalty, given for handball against Jan Vertonghen.
We were good value for the lead, and Alex Iwobi could well have doubled our advantage when he got on the end of Sead Kolasinac's cutback. His fierce shot was goalbound, but Hugo Lloris got down well to save.
Tottenham's best chances in the first half hour fell to Heung-min Son, who was kept out twice at the near post by Bernd Leno.
We were seemingly in charge of the game until two goals in four minutes turned the game around. First Eric Dier glanced home a free-kick at the near post, sparking a scuffle with the subs when he celebrated in front of the Arsenal fans. Dier was booked by referee Mike Dean.
Once the game eventually restarted, Son raced through on goal, and referee Dean adjudged he was brought down by Rob Holding, even though contact looked minimal. Harry Kane tucked home the spot-kick.
The turnaround came out of nowhere, and completely disrupted our rhythm. The game had an extra edge now, triggered by the scenes following Dier's celebration and Son's elaborate fall for the penalty.
We slowly began to rebuild though, and Shkodran Mustafi hit the bar with a looping header just before the interval.
Emery introduced Lacazette and Ramsey at half-time, but for a while we struggled to reproduce the intensity of the first half hour.
That was until Aubameyang's blistering shot brought us level. just before the hour. Ramsey managed to divert the ball into his path on the edge of the box, the striker unleashed an unstoppable drive past Lloris for his 12th goal of the season.
It breathed new life into our attack. Mustafi had a shot charged down from close range and Torreira's follow up flew just over. Sokratis then headed over but Spurs were nearly gifted a goal from Bellerin's loose pass across the box. Leno leapt away to his right to keep out the shot.
It proved to be nothing more than a blip, as we secured the points with two goals in quick succession.
First Aaron Ramsey's quick-thinking set up Lacazette with a long pass. The striker's low shot from 20 yards looked to lack pace, but the placement was perfect, and it found its way into the bottom corner.
The Emirates sound levels reached new levels just moments later when Torriera streaked away, finishing well at the near post to make it 4-2.
Tottenham's Vertonghen was sent off late on for a lunge on Lacazette, to compound the visitors' misery, but today was all about Arsenal - making it 19 games without defeat in stunning fashion.
WHAT IT MEANS
We've leapfrogged Tottenham into the top four.
WHAT'S NEXT
The big Premier League games keep coming, we travel to Manchester on Wednesday to take on United at Old Trafford, then return to Emirates Stadium on Saturday to face Huddersfield in a 3pm kick off.
What. A. Match.
We leapfrogged Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League after a pulsating 4-2 win over our north London rivals on Sunday afternoon.
Our visitors rallied after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had given us an early lead from the penalty spot, with Eric Dier and Harry Kane goals putting them in front at the break.
But our response after half-time was superb - Aubameyang equalised with a delightful effort from 20 yards, before substitute Alexandre Lacazette completed the turnaround and Lucas Torreira capped a fine individual display by scoring his first goal for us late on.
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
‘The fans gave us power and we felt strong’
Max Jones 02 Dec 2018
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was a man on a mission on Sunday.
The Gabon striker scored twice as we picked up another memorable win over Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium.
Here’s what he said to the media after the match:
on winning 4-2…
We had a great first half but after the first goal we conceded, we had a moment where we were a bit down. At half-time we were confident. We spoke and we knew that we could do it in the second half, to come back. We did it. Then we had the fans behind us and we had power, we felt strong. We went for the win.
on whether we’re more resilient now…
Yeah I think so. We can always see that in the second half we play very well. We don’t give up and that’s the mentality.
on whether we start to look higher in the table now…
I think the most important thing right now is the performances. Of course we want to continue this form and we’re still winning games. We’re unbeaten, so it’s great at the moment. We just have to keep going.
on whether that’s the best result and performance of the season…
I think so, yeah.
INTERVIEW
‘He’s unbelievable but he does that all day’
Max Jones 02 Dec 2018
Aaron Ramsey knows just how much a north London derby win means to Arsenal fans.
The midfielder is well into his 10th season with us and played a starring role off the bench in Sunday’s game, setting up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second goal.
Ramsey was asked about Auba’s finishing and more after the game. Here’s what he had to say:
on making a difference from the bench…
I think a lot of our subs this season have come on and made an impact. It was important again today. We started well in the first half, we then had a little stutter but we dug in and in the second half we won pretty convincingly.
on letting Tottenham back into the game…
I’m not sure exactly what when on when we were on the touchline but the two teams came together and then they scored. Whatever happens on the pitch stays on the pitch, but we were pretty concentrated on coming back after that and winning the game.
on the instructions he received when coming on…
I was trying to play in between the lines, trying to pull the team forward, turning in little areas and we have some strikers who are in great form at the moment. It’s easy to pick out their runs and most of the time they put the ball in the back of the net. I’m happy with the way that I performed and the way that the team performed as well.
on the build-up to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second…
It was unbelievable but he does that in training all the time. He just eases the ball into the corners but with pace as well. It reminds me of Thierry Henry’s finishes, so he has that in the locker. He’s been fabulous for us.
on that changing things mentally…
Yeah I think that as important for us to score that goal. Then you could really feel that the atmosphere was electric. That really helped us to get over the line and win convincingly in the end.
on what it means to beat Tottenham…
I’ve been here now for many, many years so it means an awful lot to me and the fans as well. I’m just glad I could play my part and we can all go home happy tonight.
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