Defeat in the derby

The north London derby ended in defeat on a disappointing afternoon at the Emirates on Sunday.

The damage was done by Eberechi Eze, who struck the first hat-trick in this fixture for 46 years, and although Richarlison scored a wonderful goal from distance to bring it back to 3-1 at one stage, we were second best for most of the contest.

Changing formation to start the game with a three-man defence with Kevin Danso coming into the team, we looked to contain the home side and did just that until two goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half from Leandro Trossard and Eze put the Gunners in control. We moved to a flat back four at half-time but conceded to Eze again immediately after the restart, before Richarlison’s moment of magic gave us hope. A comeback didn’t materialise though and instead, Eze completed his treble to send us to a heavy defeat.

We needed an excellent save from Gugielmo Vicario to prevent us going behind in the third minute after Eze dinked a ball into the area which Declan Rice caught on the volley but our Italian keeper made an excellent save with the rebound hitting Kevin Danso and bobbling just wide. Not much else happened for about half an hour as we kept Arsenal at bay, until the 34th minute when Bukayo Saka was brought down five yards outside the box to the right by Rodrigo Bentancur and the Arsenal forward took the free-kick himself, arrowing a shot towards the top left corner but Vicario was there, diving to his right to push it away.

Two minutes later though, we did fall behind when Mikel Merino clipped a ball over the top for Trossard, who controlled and shot in one movement with the ball coming off Micky van de Ven as he slid in to challenge and rolling into the far corner. Arsenal’s tails were up at this stage and they added a second in the 41st minute. Danso headed a Saka cross away but Rice was first to the ball and played it quickly forwards to Eze, who showed quick feet to work a yard of space and drove home from 15 yards out.

We went into half-time without a single shot at goal in the first half and with plenty of work to do, but things got even worse just 36 seconds into the second period when we conceded again, Eze in acres of space on the edge of the area when receiving a pass from Jurien Timber and sliding left-footed into the bottom corner.

It looked bleak at that stage and yet we found a way back into the game with our first effort at goal, an unbelievable finish from Richarlison. There didn’t seem much danger when Joao Palhinha slid in to win the ball from Martin Zubimendi some 40 yards from goal, but Richarlison spotted David Raya off his line and sent an inch-perfect lob into the back of the net to give us a glimmer of hope.

The goal changed the momentum of the game for a while and gave us a foothold in it, as we started to enjoy a lot more of the ball, even if further chances weren’t forthcoming. In fact, there was little real goalmouth action for a spell until Vicario made a diving save to keep out Saka’s 25-yard effort. However, any chance of a dramatic comeback ended with 14 minutes left when Arsenal countered, Trossard squaring for Eze who shifted onto his right and drilled home to make it 4-1. The Gunners forward almost scored his fourth moments late only this time to be denied by Vicario.

Match data

Goals: Arsenal – Trossard 36, Eze 41, 46, 76; Spurs – Richarlison 56.

Yellow cards: Arsenal – Rice; Spurs – Bentancur, Romero, Pedro Porro.

Referee: Michael Oliver.

Venue: Emirates Stadium.

Weather: Clear sky, gentle breeze, eight degrees.