Ange Postecoglou’s dream start to the Premier League continues as his Tottenham Hotspur side kept their unbeaten run alive after drawing with Arsenal 2-2 in a highly anticipated North London derby at Emirates Stadium on Sunday (Monday AEST).
Early on, it looked as though Arsenal might comprehensively unpick their opposition’s new method of playing, but the Spurs didn’t just hang in – they played with confidence and ferocity. Twice the Gunners got ahead and twice Spurs fought back to equalise.
Ange Postecoglou after Spurs came from behind to draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.Credit: Getty
It was exactly the kind of game expected in the derby: seven yellow cards, a few potential red ones, four goals (one an own-goal) and an annoyingly (for fans) long VAR check. Plenty of passion, plenty of drama.
Every headline about the game this week spoke of what a “big test” it would be for new-look Hotspur under their newcomer Australian manager, who favours an attacking style play nicknamed “Angeball”. Many pundits thought the over-reliance on attack would leave the game vulnerable to Arsenal opening it up and capitalising.
History was also on Arsenal’s side. Spurs hadn’t won a league game at Arsenal since 2010, losing on eight of their last 12 visits, and were missing the fixture’s all-time top scorer Harry Kane, who netted 14 goals in 19 derby games before his move this season to Bayern Munich. But Postecoglou is getting used to surprising, and silencing, doubters. While not passing with flying colours, collecting one point is far from a fail.
His side held more of the possession, just, at 53 per cent yet Arsenal had far more opportunities down their attacking end with 11 corners to four. However, both Gunners’ goals came from opposition mistakes.
The first came at the 26-minute mark when Bukayo Saka cut inside the Spurs box to shoot. As the ball headed just wide of the far post, Spurs defender Cristian Romero made contact with it and redirected it into the back of the net.
Spurs equalised just shy of 20 minutes later when James Maddison set Son Heung-min up to poke the ball through from inside the box, the ball bouncing off the post.
Saka and Romero were involved again when the Gunners took a penalty after the ball hit the Spurs defender’s arm as he kneeled to make a block on a Ben White shot following an Arsenal corner. The decision came after a lengthy VAR deliberation.
Son Heung-min scores for Tottenham Hotspur.Credit: Getty
Saka curled the ball straight into the centre of the net to give the Gunners back their lead, which lasted all but one minute and 38 seconds.
Maddison found Son again after stealing possession off Jorginho and teed his teammate for his seventh derby goal, elevating him to fourth on the list of all-time scorers in the derby, overtaking Gareth Bale, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie, who are all on five.
Ahead of the match, Postecoglou said there were two stories ready to be written. “If we are successful, great we’re on the right track. If we’re not, we’ve still got a long way to go,” he’d said, but he remained level-headed in the grand scheme of the game.
“For me, what is going to be more important is how much of our football I see in a big game like this. How much of us can I see against a top opponent?
“That will give me the biggest indicator of where we’re at, but ultimately we’ll still be six games into a new cycle, a new group of players, a very young group of players.
“Either way, irrespective of the outcome, I’d say the performance will be my biggest measure but knowing we have still got a long way to go.”
While there’s still a mountain ahead, and the Aussie man knows it, fans are enjoying what they’re seeing.
“Amazing performance. Amazing Effort. The streak continues,” one posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Happy with that,” said another.
After six games, Spurs sit fourth on the table, equal on points with their red and white rivals.
Chelsea see red with another defeat
In the day’s other games, Aston Villa ramped up the pressure on Mauricio Pochettino by beating 10-man Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea now have three losses and just one win under Pochettino in the league and went a man down in the 58th minute when Malo Gusto was shown a straight red card for a reckless tackle.
At Anfield, Darwin Nunez scored his fourth goal of the season to help Liverpool beat West Ham 3-1.
The Uruguay international has now scored in back-to-back games for the first time since February as Liverpool made it five successive Premier League wins to move into outright second spot, two points behind defending champion Manchester City.
At Brighton, substitute Kaoru Mitoma made an instant impact off the bench as the home side came from behind to beat Bournemouth 3-1 at the Amex Stadium.
In the late game, Newcastle trounced Sheffield United 8-0 at Bramall Lane at the end of a difficult week for the bottom-placed club after their longest-serving women’s player, the former England U19 midfielder Maddy Cusack, passed away. The Blades players all wore Cusack’s No.8 during a tribute prior to kickoff.
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