Arsenal Escape Tottenham’s Comeback in a Thrilling Derby Showdown
Arsenal secured a thrilling victory over Tottenham Hotspur in their North London derby clash, winning 3-2 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday in the Premier League’s 35th round of matches.
Arsenal took a commanding lead with goals from Emile Smith Rowe (own goal), Bukayo Saka, and Kai Havertz in the 15th, 27th, and 38th minutes, respectively. Tottenham responded through goals from Cristian Romero and Heung-Min Son in the 64th and 87th minutes.
With this result, Arsenal remained at the top of the table with 80 points, while Spurs stayed in fifth place with 60 points.
Arsenal struggled to assert themselves early on as Tottenham applied pressure in the first 10 minutes, dominating possession and dictating play.
Despite this, the visitors managed to break through with a counter-attack that saw Martin Odegaard produce a magical touch to set up Havertz, who slotted the ball home. However, the goal was disallowed for an offside position.
That spark inspired Arsenal to push forward easily afterward, with the visitors taking the lead through an own goal by Smith Rowe from a corner.
Tottenham almost equalized immediately with a similar corner, but Romero’s header narrowly missed the right post.
The attempts continued seconds later as Romero rose to meet a free-kick, directing the ball powerfully with his head, only to see it hit the post.
Fede Valverde capitalized on a loose ball inside Arsenal’s penalty area to score, but the goal was ruled out after a VAR review showed a Spurs player was offside during the shot.
From a counter-attack, the ball reached Saka, who sprinted towards Tottenham’s penalty area, dribbled past defenders, and fired a left-footed shot into the far left corner, scoring Arsenal’s second goal.
Arsenal then capitalized on their effective weapon, set pieces, as Havertz rose to head home a corner, further extending his team’s lead with a third goal.
Son missed a clear chance to reduce the deficit as he received a ball that put him face to face with David Raya, but he sent the ball wide with a wayward shot, ending the first half with the visitors leading 3-0.
At the start of the second half, Arsenal continued to rely on set pieces, and Tomiyasu almost converted one into a fourth goal with a flying header, but it hit the crossbar.
Fukayori saved his goal from a sure goal by blocking Saka’s shot, which was met by a precise cross from Havertz inside the penalty area.
David Raya made a fatal error by passing the ball inadvertently to Romero, who accepted the gift and placed the ball into the net, pulling one back for the home side.
After a few minutes of calm, the game reignited when the referee awarded Spurs a penalty following a foul by Rice, following a VAR review.
Son successfully converted the penalty to score Tottenham’s second goal, setting the stage for a tense finish.
Tottenham intensified their pressure in the remaining minutes, hoping to equalize, but they faced resolute defending from Arsenal players until the final whistle.