Tottenham rallied from two goals behind to tie Arsenal on Sunday in the north London derby thanks to a brace from Son Heung-min.
Bukayo Saka’s curling shot was deflected by Cristian Romero past Guglielmo Vicario in the 26th minute to give the Gunners a lead before Son calmed the Emirates Stadium with an equaliser goal just before halftime.
After the break, Romero was given a VAR handball penalty, allowing Saka to score, but the Gunners’ excessive celebrations cost them as Son sprinted in off of a Jorginho error to tie Spurs up before the hour.
While Brennan Johnson made the Spurs starting lineup with Manor Solomon and match-winning player Richarlison on the bench, David Raya received another start in goal for Arsenal, leaving Aaron Ramsdale on the bench once more.
During the first 20 minutes, Vicario had to make two stops as Arsenal forced Tottenham into making errors. The Italian made a leaping stop after Gabriel Jesus’ first-time shot and then turned aside Eddie Nketiah’s drive after Destiny Udogie recklessly lost control of the ball. Although Arsenal applied good pressure and made it difficult for Spurs to advance up the field, the game’s first goal was a stroke of pure luck.
After cutting in and giving Udogie a really tough time on the wing, Saka fired in the direction of the net. The ball bounced off the defender and past Vicario, who was left helpless, while Romero swung his leg but failed to make a clean connection. Gabriel Jesus was guilty of squandering a golden opportunity to give the Gunners a 2-0 lead, and the Brazilian grabbed the ball when James Maddison dallied while in control in his area, but given a clear shot, he could only blast it way over the bar.
Arsenal lost the first half due to that error, and Tottenham came out on top. Ange Postecoglou’s team snuffed out an equaliser despite Raya’s amazing movement to reach across the goal and stop Johnson from finishing off Son’s ball across the area.
While Son’s finish from a tight angle was saved by Raya after Sarr’s cross was flapped at, Maddison turned past Saka on the wing and Maddison’s follow-up was flapped at by Sarr. Before a VAR review made Romero’s day even worse, Declan Rice and Fabio Vieira were replaced in midfield at halftime by Kai Havertz and Jorginho.
Saka was able to clip his shot down the centre of the goal thanks to Rob Jones’s pointing of the finger at the area and the defender’s extended arm.
Tottenham player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Guglielmo Vicario – 7/10
RB: Pedro Porro – 5/10
CB: Cristian Romero – 3/10
CB: Micky van de Ven – 7/10
LB: Destiny Udogie – 6/10
CM: Pape Matar Sarr – 5/10
CM: Yves Bissouma – 7/10
RW: Dejan Kulusevski – 6/10
AM: James Maddison – 7/10
LW: Brennan Johnson – 6/10
ST: Son Heung-min – 9/10
Subs
Manor Solomon (63′ for Johnson) – 5/10
Richarlison (77′ for Son) – 6/10
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (77′ for Maddison) – 5/10
Arsenal player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: David Raya – 6/10
RB: Ben White – 5/10
CB: William Saliba – 7/10
CB: Gabriel Magalhaes – 6/10
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 6/10
CM: Martin Odegaard – 6/10
CM: Declan Rice – 6/10
CM: Fabio Vieira – 5/10
RW: Bukayo Saka – 7/10
ST: Eddie Nketiah – 5/10
LW: Gabriel Jesus – 6/10
Subs
Jorginho (46′ for Rice) – 3/10
Kai Havertz (46′ for Vieira) – 5/10
Reiss Nelson (77′ for Jesus) – 6/10
