Jose's verdict on Arsenal

Jose Mourinho underlined the importance of Heung-Min Son’s equaliser as we went on to win Sunday’s north London derby - his first as our Head Coach.

We started well but were left stunned when Alexandre Lacazette pinged a bolt out of the blue into the top corner from 25 yards to hand Arsenal the lead on 16 minutes.

Thankfully, we were back in it within minutes as Sonny capitalised on Sead Kolasinac’s wayward back pass, held off David Luiz and clipped a lovely finish over advancing Emiliano Martinez.

Martinez starred as both teams had chances. The Arsenal goalkeeper had already denied Harry Kane one-on-one when he touched Ben Davies’ piledriver onto the crossbar and would later keep out Son, Kane and Lucas. At the other end, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rattled the woodwork and forced Hugo Lloris into a fingertip save.

We eventually won it nine minutes from time when Son whipped in a corner and Toby Alderweireld climbed highest at the near post to glance into the far corner.

“The boys fought from minute one to the last minute,” said Jose. “When Arsenal were in control of the game by having the ball, I thought we were in control even without the ball.

“The equaliser was very important, because you then get the feeling that football isn’t fair, and in football sometimes, when things are not fair, some teams, some players, you drop a little bit in your confidence.

“We started well, we were very dominant, then Lacazette scored an astonishing goal and I think if we don’t react immediately, probably it could cost us a little. So that was great. Then in the second half, it was a big game, very tactical, a hard game.

“The players put in a lot of effort. The temperature was really warm and only us inside the stadium could feel how warm it was. If you analyse the data, you will then realise how many miles these guys run and the intensity of what they did. I can only be very complimentary of them.”

The result means we move ahead of Arsenal with three matches remaining in the Premier League – Newcastle away on Wednesday (6pm), Leicester at home next Sunday (19 July, 4pm) and Palace away on the final day (26 July, 4pm).

Jose added: “Three games to go, we need points, and we need to go until the end. Eric Dier (who has served two of a four-match suspension) still has two matches to stay away, let’s see if Dele (hamstring) can help us in these remaining matches, we need everyone.”