Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to eight points as they won 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday evening.
The visitors swarmed their hosts from kick-off and it was no surprise that they took the lead on 14 minutes - even if the manner of the goal itself was unexpected, as Hugo Lloris contrived to throw a simple cross over his own shoulder and into the net.
As the onslaught continued, Antonio Conte’s side had no answer and no way of stopping the shots coming in, with Martin Odegaard eventually finding the bottom corner to make it two before the break.
Harry Kane came closest to finding a consolation or a route back into the match for Spurs, but he and his teammates were well below par and found Aaron Ramsdale in fine form when chances did fall their way, leading to another big-game defeat for Conte and boos from the stands
Here are the player ratings from Sunday’s north London derby.
Tottenham Hotspur
Hugo Lloris - 4. Really good stop from Nketiah followed by the most absurd drop into his own net. That level of error simply happens far too often to him. Not an error precisely for the second, but neither was it the best goalkeeping. Stopped a couple of one-on-ones on the angle but a costly showing all told.
Cristian Romero - 6. Might get criticism for some aggression during the game but if a few teammates showed the same they might have been better off. A few good interceptions at the back but also booked, inevitably.
Eric Dier - 5. Did a few decent defensive bits in the first half with his team under the cosh, mainly clearances and headers under pressure, but no real organisation or protection as a unit once more for Spurs. As the central of the trio, more is needed from Dier in that regard. More loose in the second half when they went to four at the back.
Clement Lenglet - 4. Another poor outing. Didn’t offer any kind of physicality, speed or positional work to stop Arsenal’s rotating forward line getting into dangerous areas.
Matt Doherty - 4. Had a very tough outing. Martinelli’s speed of footwork was too much to deal with and he couldn’t break out of deep areas for most of the match, to give Spurs an outlet. One decent cross but didn’t offer enough.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - 5. Bypassed by Odegaard with real regularity and that in turn left Arsenal’s pair free when he chased the Norwegian back. Gave away the ball with poor long passes too much and didn’t offer enough drive going forward.
Pape Sarr - 5. Totally overrun first half but battled on, didn’t make any major errors and won possession with some decent challenges in the middle. A tough game to come into the side for on his first league start.
Ryan Sessegnon - 5. Really struggled defensively against Saka first half and was unable to get forward at all. Had a big chance to score but saw his shot saved.
Dejan Kulusevski - 7. A good outlet and route into the box in the second half, whipping a couple across the face of goal, but lacked accuracy on his crosses and faded later when Spurs needed a big finish.
Harry Kane - 7. The only really creative hub in the team. Fizzed some excellent passes into the channels, had a flicked header and a fierce shot saved, but basically lacked any major quality feeding him from deep.
Son Heung-min - 5. Should have equalised with a one-on-one but was marginalised for long spells afterwards. Massively on the fringes in the second half even in the spell his team were on top.
Subs: Richarlison 5, I Perisic 6, Y Bissouma 6, B Gil n/a, B Davies n/a
Arsenal
Aaron Ramsdale - 8. Saved well from Son just after the opener, then again from Kane and Sessegnon in quick succession following the restart. Not required to do much apart from shot-stop, an indication of how well those in front of him played.
Ben White - 7. Quiet in terms of build-up play on this occasion but was very solid for the most part, not frequently troubled by Son or Sessegnon in wider areas.
William Saliba - 8. Stood up very well to the physical demands of marking Kane and was aerially strong when Spurs opted to sling over a few crosses.
Gabriel Magalhaes - 8. More the defender who mopped up second balls and covered key areas, compared to his partner who muscled and marshalled the middle. As a pairing, faultless for the majority which is what matters most.
Oleksandr Zinchenko - 5. Easily the weakest link in the side from a defensive standpoint on this occasion, with Kulusevski getting past him easily and most dangerous deliveries coming from his flank.
Thomas Partey - 7. Almost broke the frame of the goal with a smashing volley. Escaped the season’s most blatant yellow card for handball early in the match. Covered well in deep areas when he needed to and kept the ball moving in the attacking third.
Granit Xhaka - 7. Less influential than his central partner but very economical and consistent with his distribution. Why bother to get involve in the post-match fracas behind the goal? Cannot help himself.
Bukayo Saka - 7. Forced the opener with a typically driving and direct run and caused so many problems with his pace from the right. Wasn’t as involved second half but still did a lot of damage in a short spell.
Martin Odegaard - 8. Given so much space repeatedly, which he duly punished with a fine low strike from range. Nobody in the Spurs lineup, let alone the midfield, had the vision and range of passing that he had and Odegaard was able to run large parts of this game yet again.
Gabriel Martinelli - 7. An important outlet by holding his width and dribbling infield, though didn’t have too much joy once he got into shooting or passing positions. Got a little too involved in running battles with Romero and Doherty.
Eddie Nketiah - 6. Hard-working throughout and really pushed hard to get in the box after early link play but spurned three really decent chances. He’ll have expected better from the opportunities he had.
Subs: K Tierney n/a, T Tomiyasu n/a E Smith Rowe n/a, F Vieira n/a
