A fiery North London derby finished with Arsenal emerging victorious over Tottenham on Sunday.
The first half proved to be a fiery affair as no less than seven yellow cards were shown by the referee, which is a Premier League record.
It soon became clear that one goal would be enough to win it and Arsenal got it in the 64th minute when Gabriel rose above everyone inside the box to bullet a header home from a corner.
Spurs huffed and puffed looking for a goal in the latter stages, but were unable to get the better of Arsenal’s sturdy defence.
Player of the Match
It goes to show how under the cosh Arsenal were towards the end of the match that David Raya has emerged as the best player on the day.
His emergence as man of the match is largely due to his high number of ball recoveries as he made no less than 11 to take the pressure off his defenders, which proved vital in the latter stages.
He made five saves on the day, and although none were world-class, his positioning was spot-on.
Raya was more than happy to punt the ball up the pitch, as he hit 21 long passes into the Spurs half, usually to Kai Havertz.
Worst Player
There were three players who received a 5.8 rating in the match – Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and Jorginho.
Statistically, there wasn’t much between then, but Johnson probably had the biggest off day due to the opportunities he spurned coming in off that right wing.
He took four shots on goal, only one of which actually hit the target one. It was a tame effort, too, as his left-footed strike dribbled into the arms of Raya.
Damningly, Johnson won only one out of his six duels and didn’t complete any ball recoveries or interceptions.
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/news/tottenham-vs-arsenal-player-ratings-angel-gabriel-saviour-for-the-gunners/5732
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-09-15 15:13:52
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