Clinical Arsenal victorious in the North London derby

Arsenal had to suffer some nervy final minutes in their North London derby victory after having been three goals ahead at half-time.

The visitors took the lead early on when Pierre-Emile Højbjerg flicked Bukayo Saka's corner into his own net – dealing with Arsenal set pieces was something Tottenham Hotspur never looked comfortable with all afternoon.

Despite that early setback, Spurs caused Arsenal trouble going forward with Cristián Romero hitting the post with a header from James Maddison's set-piece.

Indeed, Tottenham did have the ball in the net when Pedro Porro's shot ping-ponged and fell into the path of Micky van de Ven who finished past David Raya. However, VAR intervened to show that the Dutch defender was just offside.

Things got even better for Arsenal just minutes later when Dejan Kulusevski lost his footing in the penalty area allowing the Gunners to quickly break. One long ball out found Saka in space, the England forward had plenty to do but he kept his cool and slotted the ball past David Raya.

Spurs' bad luck continued when they were forced into an early change with Timo Werner being replaced by Brennan Johnson.

Then in the 38th minute, it was 3-0 to Arsenal. Again it was a corner causing problems for Ange Postecoglou's side with Ben White doing enough to distract Guglielmo Vicario as Kai Havertz rose highest to head home from close range.

Arsenal then took a three-goal lead into the break without having to have played particularly well, indeed of the two sides Spurs looked the better going forward.

Tottenham weren't quite as good in the second half yet they still managed to reduce the deficit. Romero pulled one goal back in the 64th minute when he took advantage of Raya's woeful attempt to pass out to find the corner.

Then in the 85th minute, Spurs had a penalty. How Michael Oliver didn't spot Declan Rice kicking Ben Davies when it was directly in front of him is surprising but VAR intervened and on review, the referee pointed to the spot.

Son Heung-min was calm as you like with his penalty, firing it into the left corner with Raya unable to reach it.

Suddenly, Arsenal looked like they were capable of throwing their healthy half-time lead away but Mikel Arteta's side managed to hang on until the end and record a big victory before Manchester City take on Nottingham Forest later this evening.

xG: Tottenham Hotspur (2.73) 2-3 (1.28) Arsenal

Another milestone for Mikel 🤩 pic.twitter.com/xh7diU9ZZA

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 28, 2024