Bragging rights remain ‘as you were’, and Arsenal stay in touch with Manchester City prior to next Sunday's massive encounter at The Etihad, as the away team - badly depleted in midfield due to injury and (ludicrous) suspension - comfortably saw off a disappointing Tottenham side at The New Toilet Bowl.
Interestingly, the feeling I was getting pre-game from Spurs fans of my acquaintance on social media was that despite Arsenal's perceived midfield weaknesses, and it perhaps being their best chance to win a NLD in a few years now, that they still didn't expect to do so. Whilst from what I've seen and heard from all but the biggest cry-babies in our fanbase about the squad being too small, the transfer window having been mismanaged and Edu Out, the sensible amongst us merely looked beyond what Arsenal didn't have available to what they did have, and tried to work out how Arteta would solve the conundrum without throwing their toys out of the window.
I listened to a few podcasts prior to the game, and read what others were suggesting on X etc, but as it turned out I managed to predict the starting XI exactly. I was fortunate enough to spend last week in New York (a break sensibly organised to coincide with the Interlull), and my wife and I had a very pleasant Thursday lunch in the company of Matt Kandela - @mattkandela on X - from the excellent The Arsenal Opinion podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@TheArsenalOpinion - where we discussed all things Arsenal; and the chat went on so long that we were comfortably the last people out of the restaurant!
Matt will vouch that I got the XI spot on; when I gave the following reasoning: Arteta doesn't like to put square pegs in round holes, so he'd make as few positional changes as he could get away with. So he'd go with a 'double pivot' - necessitated by the qualities of the two midfield veterans who were available - and that he'd play Saka and Havertz in their best positions and use Martinelli's pace in order to try to exploit Tottenham's high line. Which would leave Trossard to play in the hole behind Havertz (although they would interchange). As for Ethan Nwaneri; his time will come - and perhaps would have come if this had been the likes of Leicester or Southampton at home - but there was no way that Arteta was going to start him in a game of this enormity if he hadn't made an appearance when the team were 2-0 up to Wolves or Aston Villa earlier in the season. Jesus and Sterling to come off the bench as and when needed. There you go...
It was no surprise to see Tottenham start strongly, and for the first 15 minutes or so Arsenal did struggle to get a grip on the game as they were somewhat penned back - as they were at other times during the game; Declan Rice was badly missed, with Partey and the rusty Jorginho struggling to make up the ground early on. At the same time, the returning Solanke did manage to give Saliba one or two early moments of concern before he faded in the second half (the latter booked - as only Arsenal players are these days on the basis of 'letter of the Law' - for delaying a restart after pulling back on the centre forward's shirt). But Arsenal were far more penetrative, even with the limited possession they were afforded, and soon began to get to grips with what Spurs were trying to do.
True, Raya made a couple of decent early saves - the type of save you'd expect him to make, frankly - and was dominant on crosses (are you watching Vicario?) throughout. And the wind began to fall out of Spurs' sails as early as the 15th minute. Some may argue that it was 'attack vs defence', but for me it was a team desperate to score - but not sure how to - against a team who were utterly confident in their ability to defend.
With the double pivot doing a more than adequate job - for all that Spurs picked on Jorginho whenever he was in possession - the back 4 looked as solid as ever. Difficult to single any of them out, with Timber contributing as well down the left as White did on the right, and with Saliba and Gabriel finally pocketing Solanke. I tell you what it reminded me of; a boxer egging his opponent onto him and force him to use up loads of physical and mental energy; only to strike back when the moment was right. Something Mohammed Ali was rather good at.
At the other end Martinelli seems to have started to re-find some of his mojo - although he clearly has some way to go - and he certainly had the measure of Porro. His decision-making nonetheless appears to display a lack of conviction; none more so when he skinned the full back in the 19th minute and shot tamely almost straight at Vicario when a quick glance up would have indicated that Bukayo Saka was extremely well placed on the other side of the penalty area. The Brazilian needs to make a telling contribution - a goal or an assist - and then hopefully the gloves will come off. In the meantime, there is plenty of competition for the left-wing spot.
Alongside Martinelli, Havertz did a really good job; working hard, popping up wherever needed and occupying Romero and Van De Ven. And Saka, whilst never reaching the heights of which we know he is capable, was highly effective; as much in defence as attack, as he was conspicuous on a number of occasions in covering the lung-bursting forward runs of Udogie.
Of course, no NLD is likely to pass without a 'handbag' like flare-up. And so it came to pass in the 34th minute that Porro screamed in apparent pain - thereby getting Timber booked for what barely looked like even a foul - and causing one of those pathetic melees that leave you hoping that the officials don't do anything stupid. A dozen players involved, and Porro back on his feet within a couple of minutes. It really was nothing, but Vicario joined Timber in the book. And as the half wore on he was joined by 4 further Spurs players, as Arsenal's quality on the ball started to come through.
But 0-0 at half time; perfectly satisfactory. and the second half started in a similar vein to the first - Spurs creating a few half-chances, but Arsenal perhaps looking the more likely with their superior quality. As the game wore on, Spurs looked increasingly like they had shot their bolt, with Arsenal able to deal with whatever fairly powder puff efforts the likes of Son, Johnson and Kulusevski threw their way. In the number 10 position, Maddison was pretty invisible as the Arsenal press smothered him.
And then, finally, the decisive moment of the match. Porro blocked a Saka effort for a corner, and from the resulting dead ball - one of those inswingers that we know that Vicario loves so much - the ball found the back of the net. Saliba and (inevitably) White pinned two defenders in front of Vicario, who was both unwilling and unable to collect, big Gabby easily escaped the attentions of a day-dreaming Romero... and a thumping header from no more than 5 yards out almost burst the onion bag. Luvvly jubbly.
From then on, it was 'what we have; we hold'. Arsenal held Tottenham at arms' length from then on, with none of Big Ange's substitutions making any difference whatsoever. Especially bringing Timo Werner on; the guy's a total waste of space. Jesus and Raheem Sterling relieved Trossard and Martinelli with 10 minutes left; purely cosmetic, frankly, and neither covered himself in glory - Sterling needs to learn when to pass, and Jesus needs to learn how to tackle! Late on, Bukayo Saka went down - either exhausted, or perhaps with a calf issue - and we finally saw the prodigy Nwaneri for a few minutes. Tall and strong-looking for his age, neat on the ball and with an eye for a pass - the boy has a future all right.
And so the game petered out. Spurs dominated possession, but rarely did anything decisive with it. Arsenal may be accused of being 'boring', but it was job done, and defensively they perhaps look even stronger than they did last season - in 4 matches, they have conceded just a single goal, and that was when down to 10 men and due to an individual error. All that, however, will be put to the test next Sunday, when they come up against the cheat code that is Erling Haaland (although it's worth remembering that he wasn't given a sniff in two matches last season).
As for Tottenham; they frankly look miles away. They were comfortably held off by an Arsenal side missing its entire first choice midfield; unacceptable from a supporter's point of view. Big Ange is going to get found out, and who knows if he'll last the season. He picked the wrong side for this game, and seems not to have anything other than a Plan A. That's not going to wash against the massively coached Premier League opposition he's going to come up against again and again. They're good enough to finish in the top half of the table, of course, but they don't appear to be making progress, Good-oh!
Before that, on Thursday, Arsenal commence their Champions League challenge at Atalanta (mid-table in Serie A, and with a squad that looks like it hasn't gelled yet). Arsenal will need to look out for Ademola Lookman, and will also come up against a number of players who didn't quite cut the mustard in the Premier League (including our old friend - and Mesut Ozil's minder - Saed Kolasinac). Arteta may be able to get away with a few personnel changes - depending on fitness issues - and less than 72 hours after that it's Manchester City away. Massive.
COYG!
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