What a difference 90 minutes of football can make! Arsenal were down and out on Wednesday night after a wretched display and two more dropped points away at bottom club Wolves had left their title charge supposedly in ruins. Fast forward a few days and things look a lot rosier for the Gunners as they returned to winning ways in style and in doing so, pushed that lot down the road further towards the exit door of the Premier League. If you’re looking at a result to lift everyone’s spirits, I think this is as close as you are going to get to perfection.
Arsenal looked on it from the first whistle and threatened the Tottenham goal numerous times before Eberechi Eze – who else! – opened the scoring with an acrobatic finish of sorts as he managed to get his boot up near his head to fire home from close range, following good work by Bukayo Saka.
What happened next was not part of the plan as Declan Rice, of all people, gave the ball away sloppily on the edge of his area allowing Randal Kolo Muani to fire home and send those muppets absolutely wild.
Arsenal responded well and probably should have gone ahead before half time with Saka and Leandro Trossard both missing the target when well placed.
Fortunately the second half started extremely well as Jurrien Timber’s excellent pass was finished superbly by Viktor Gyokeres from just outside the box, to give Arsenal the lead once more. A disallowed goal at our end was all that Tottenham really threw at us and although it was nervy due to the game state and all round importance of the game, it was relatively comfortable for Arsenal, as they continued to dominate.
Thankfully though, they turned that domination into more goals to safe our nerves with Eberechi Eze again proving how much he truly despises Tottenham by tapping home his second of the match, following neat build up between Gyokeres, Eze and Saka, before the Swede put the gloss on an already pretty beautiful scoreline to make it 4-1 in stoppage time.
Two goals for Eze, two goals for Gyokeres, four goals for Arsenal in total and Arsenal’s five point lead restored at the top of the Premier League…not a bad way to spend your Sunday afternoon! Here’s how the players rated:
David Raya – 8
Probably a bit too generous, but I’m in that kind of mood. Gets an additional point for a ridiculous save to deny Richarlison’s goal bound effort, as he somehow got back to claw the ball off his line to keep the score at 3-1 with 5 minutes left to play. No chance with Kolo Muani’s goal and his distribution was excellent throughout, including almost grabbing an assist with a through ball to Saka.
Jurrien Timber – 7
Much more like it from the Dutchman. Bar one lapse in the first half, where he gave the ball away and then picked up a booking trying to correct his error, Timber was solid defensively. It was his attacking that really caught the eye though as he played a part in the opening goal, assisted the second with a sumptuous pass and was also a threat on the overlap on numerous occasions. Tired in the second half and Mikel Arteta rightly withdrew him with around half an hour to play.
William Saliba – 8
A player that is often rated, simply because he makes it look so easy. Probably could have got a bit tighter to Kolo Muani for the sp*rs equaliser, but once he was in the box, I’m not sure he can do much else as the risk of giving away a penalty would have been really high. Maybe should have done better with an early first half chance, but this was just a really assured performance from start to finish from Saliba, effortless stuff at times.
Gabriel – 7
I don’t like seeing my big centre half going down that easy, I really don’t. Would he have got the free kick if he hadn’t gone down, probably not so I sort of get it. However, if he stays on his feet, I think he recovers from the nudge in the back and blocks out the shot any way, so that’s something I think Gabriel needs to eradicate from his game. That aside, he was also really good. Played some nice passes out from the back and shut down anything that game his away with his usual aggressive nature. He loves these games, you can see it all over him.
Piero Hincapie – 7
Goes from strength to strength with each game. So assured defensively and is now starting to contribute more to the attack, as his curling pass through the heart of the sp*rs defence should really have been finished off by Saka. Has he made the left back spot his own? On this form, he’ll take moving.
Martin Zubimendi – 7
Another who was massively improved from midweek. Was back to his metronomic best as his passes always found a teammate and he always found a way to push us forward when in possession. Competed well in the heart of midfield as he got through plenty of dirty work as well. Declan Rice and Zubimendi were just too strong, too clever and just basically too good for the sp*rs midfield, as they dominated from first minute to last.
Declan Rice – 7
Rice probably deserves to lose two points off his score with that mistake yet he made up for it so well, I think he thoroughly deserves a 7 out of 10 rating. Lesser players would have let a mistake like that ruin their whole game. Not Rice. He just brushed it off and went on to put in a really excellent display, full of running and drive, to more than make up for his lapse in judgement. No Steven Gerrard moment here, please move along…
Eberechi Eze – 8
He really loves playing against this lot doesn’t he?! In probably his second best game in an Arsenal shirt, Eze showed the sp*rs faithful what they missed out on as he capped an all round excellent performance with a fine double, to put the game beyond Tottenham. Linked well with Gyokeres and Saka throughout and just generally looked dangerous whenever he had it. The second was a great finish by Gyokeres, but don’t downplay the part that Eze plays, as he makes space for his teammate really cleverly. More like this please!
Bukayo Saka – 8
Was just missing a goal tonight. One of his best performances of the season as he made the first goal and played a key role in the second. Finished the game with no goals or assists to his name, yet he played such a key role in turned the game in our favour. Always looking to get in behind and the sp*rs defenders just had no answer for his pace and movement.
Viktor Gyokeres – 9 PLAYER OF THE MATCH
This is what we paid our money for. Two excellent goals, showing different sides to his game. The first goal is all about power as he rifled home from outside the box, whereas the second has a bit of everything as the run, touch, strength and then finish were all first class. Aside from the goals, his all round play was excellent as well, as he kept the ball well, brought in teammates multiple times and generally gave Dragusin an absolute torrid afternoon. I liked the touch around the corner for Eze’s second goal as well. Fantastic.
Leandro Trossard – 6
A quiet night from the Belgian, as he failed to impact the game in a meaningful way. Dragged one shot wide of the post and probably should have done better when Vicario came racing out of his box, only for Trossard to chip tamely towards goal. Feels like he might have lost his place in the starting XI if Martinelli was playing better. Worked tirelessly without the ball though, so he gets a 6 for that.
Subs:
Cristhian Mosquera – 7 – Showed another side to his game tonight as his versatility was put to the test when he replaced Jurrien Timber with the game delicately poised at 2-1. We had nothing to fear as the Spaniard put in another absurd performance, given the circumstances, as he was absolutely relentless in his tackling and pressing and was generally superb. What a find this guy has been.
Gabriel Martinelli – Ran the channels well without too much threat.
Martin Odegaard – Not a bad sub to bring on. His energy and pressing were really useful in the closing stages and he helped himself to an assist with a neat goal to Gyokeres in stoppage time. Might have to get used to cameos with Eze playing like that and Havertz to return!
Noni Madueke – 6 – Came on in stoppage time so not long enough to rate really. Played a part in the fourth goal though, so he gets a 6!
Final note – What a game. I’ve seen a lot of things in my time supporting Arsenal, but I’m not sure I’ve seen a turnaround quite like this one. At least not for a very long time. It felt like all was lost on Wednesday and then we come to our old neighbours, who we rarely win comfortably against, who have a new Manager bounce incoming having had so much rest since they last played and we just absolutely played them off the park. I really hope games like this yield something tangible and silver come the end of the season. They really deserve to.