LONDON (Agencies): The noisy neighbours have been silenced for now. By the time Harry Kane and Dele Alli trudged off the pitch in the dying stages, with the triumphant taunts from the home fans ringing in their ears, Tottenham Hotspur had long let go of the notion of coming to the home of their fiercest rivals to offer swaggering proof of where the balance of power in north London lies these days. Instead it was an afternoon of pure release for Arsène Wenger, who took great joy from a first derby win over Mauricio Pochettino and a performance that reminded Arsenal of better times.
There could be no dispute about Arsenal’s ownership of the local bragging rights, earned thanks to goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sánchez in the first half, not to mention a blend of defensive and midfield resilience not always associated with this team in recent seasons, and the only frustration for Wenger in the end was that his players do not operate at this level more consistently.
Arsenal’s first victory over a fellow big six member this season was assured long before the final whistle and it took them to within a point of Tottenham, whose title hopes took a sizeable dent after this failure to rise to the occasion. Pochettino’s team, after all, had turned up at the Emirates with such hope.
It was certainly unusual to be at this fixture and detect early foreboding in the home sections, where there was queasiness at the thought of a transformed Tottenham jabbing at the soft underbelly of late-era Wengerball. To appreciate the shifting dynamics in this corner of the capital, one only had to glance the teams’ midweek assignments in Germany: while Arsenal, demoted to the Europa League, visit the Bundesliga stragglers Köln on Thursday, Tottenham can clinch top spot in their Champions League group at Borussia Dortmund two nights earlier.
Yet the idea that they could ever be underdogs against these opponents compelled Arsenal to tear up the narrative. The home support created a noisy, angry atmosphere and their players fed off that urgent vibe, offering the impression that they had something to prove after an underwhelming start to the season. They pressed Tottenham high up the pitch, making it hard for the visitors to pass their way out of trouble, and Alexandre Lacazette had an early sighter after Eric Dier dithered in possession.
Lacazette, starting with Sánchez and Mesut Özil for only the third time in the league, was a pesky and sprightly opponent for the Tottenham defence. The striker hurried Hugo Lloris into a panicked clearance, almost converted Héctor Bellerín’s low centre after a fine pass from the impressive Aaron Ramsey and sparked jubilant scenes when he set up Sánchez to rifle in Arsenal’s second goal shortly before half-time.
It was an uneven performance from Tottenham, with Moussa Sissoko giving the ball away too much and Mousa Dembélé struggling to settle to the tempo in the middle, although they did have their moments before Mustafi headed in the opening goal in the 35th minute. There was danger whenever Christian Eriksen, elevated by that stunning hat-trick in Denmark’s World Cup play-off against the Republic of Ireland, found pockets of space behind Ramsey and Granit Xhaka, while Kane operated a shoot-on-sight policy around Arsenal’s area.
However Petr Cech foiled Kane on two occasions, most notably when the striker broke down the left following miscommunication between Laurent Koscielny and Mustafi, and Arsenal’s back three was doing well to keep Alli quiet. Eriksen clipped Cech’s right post with a low shot, but an Arsenal goal looked likelier as Wenger’s men strained to add the final flourish to their silky interplay.
The game turned on a tight decision from Mike Dean, who penalised Davinson Sánchez when the Colombian tried to tackle his namesake in red and white. Özil floated the free-kick to the far post from the left and Mustafi – who appeared to be marginally offside – capitalised on slack marking from Jan Vertonghen to send a looping header beyond Lloris, the ball almost going in off the inside of the right post in slow motion.
Tottenham’s response was torpor, enabling Arsenal to tear into them. Lacazette’s elusive movement took him streaking beyond Tottenham’s creaking high line after a clever pass from Bellerín and his pass found Sánchez, who crashed a high shot past Lloris despite a heavy first touch.
