From Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – Spurs closed the gap on fourth-placed Arsenal to just one point after an emphatic 3-0 win in the north London derby on Thursday.
The ten-man Gunners looked toothless even before Rob Holding’s 33rd minute red card, and have opened the door to their greatest rivals leapfrogging them in the Premier League standings in the last two games of the season.
After a feisty opening 20 minutes yielded little in the way of chances, Tottenham were awarded a penalty when Cedric impeded Son Heung-min while trying to reach Dejan Kulusevski’s cross.
Harry Kane – the record scorer in north London derbies – stepped up and sent England teammate Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way to open the scoring.
Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal when Holding, embroiled in an aggressive and physical battle with Son for the opening half hour, received a second booking for elbowing the South Korean in the face when attempting to make a run in behind.
Spurs doubled their advantage soon after when Rodrigo Bentancur rose highest to meet Son’s corner, and Kane stooped in at the back post to nod home their second goal of the evening.
Emerson Royal spurned a wonderful chance to add a third when he fluffed Ryan Sessegnon’s deep cross, while Eddie Nketiah forced Hugo Lloris into his first meaningful save with a dink from the edge of the box.
Tottenham came racing out of the blocks after half-time and did get a third after Davinson Sanchez slipped through Kane, who got in a tussle with Gabriel but managed to work the ball back for Son to fire through a body of defenders for his 21st league goal of the season.
Bukayo Saka’s close-range shot at the other end was blocked by the sprawling leg of Ben Davies before a towering header from Emerson had to be pushed aside by Ramsdale.
Son should have had his second of the game after but couldn’t get a clean connection on a bobbling ball from Sessegnon, with Martin Odegaard similarly misfiring at the other end from a cutback as Spurs ran out 3-0 winners with little fuss.
Antonio Conte’s men could climb above Arsenal into fourth with a win against Burnley on Sunday before Mikel Arteta’s side travel to Newcastle on Monday.
But for now, here are your player ratings from a memorable night in N17.
GK: Hugo Lloris – 7/10 – Made a couple of decent saves and commanded his box with authority.
CB: Davinson Sanchez – 8/10 – Drafted in for the injured Cristian Romero and was quietly excellent. Had a nervy start with his distribution but his pass to Kane for Spurs’ third goal was exquisite.
CB: Eric Dier – 7/10 – Stepped up when needed and largely squashed the threat of Nketiah.
CB: Ben Davies – 7/10 – Made a block not too dissimilar to his one at Liverpool at the weekend.
RM: Emerson Royal – 7/10 – After disappointing for much of the season, the Brazilian has now registered impressive performances against Liverpool and Arsenal in successive games.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – 7/10 – Calmly dribbled his way through midfield. Brilliant header to assist Kane’s second.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 8/10 – Brought tremendous energy to the team and swept up superbly on numerous occasions.
LM: Ryan Sessegnon – 8/10 – Like Emerson, Sessegnon is starting to prove his worth at wing-back, getting the better of Saka for much of the night.
RF: Dejan Kulusevski – 7/10 – Not his finest game but he still was a menace to the Gunners and his teasing cross led to the penalty.
CF: Harry Kane – 10/10 – Massively grew into the game following his ice cold penalty. Two goals tonight takes his tally to 15 in north London derbies.
LF – Son Heung-min – 9/10 – Won the penalty, got Holding sent off, scored a clinical goal. In many ways, Son was the protagonist.
SUB: Steven Bergwijn (72′ for Son) – 6/10
SUB: Lucas Moura (72′ for Kulusevski) – 6/10
SUB: Joe Rodon (81′ for Davies) – N/A
GK: Aaron Ramsdale – 4/10 – Made some stretching stops at 3-0 down but that was it.
RB: Cedric – 2/10 – Might gave got away with his barge on Son if the ball wasn’t going towards him. Alas, it was and it was a dumb foul.
CB: Rob Holding 1/10 – Lost his cool and lost Arsenal a foothold in the derby. A mindless challenge to make on Son when already booked.
CB: Gabriel 3/10 – All over the place. Similarly lost his composure at times.
LB: Takehiro Tomiyasu – 5/10 – One of Arsenal’s only players who didn’t embarrass themselves.
CM: Mohamed Elneny – 4/10 – Made a string of wrong decisions which helped Spurs play their way through midfield.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 4/10 – Lacked the leadership that he’s shown in recent weeks. Lucky that Kulusevski didn’t make the most of a poor touch at the back at 3-0.
RM: Bukayo Saka – 4/10 – Charged at Davies early on but was less successful trying to get by Sessegnon.
AM: Martin Odegaard – 2/10 – Poor pass after poor pass, poor decision after poor decision.
LM: Gabriel Martinelli – 3/10 – Locked up by Emerson. His crossing was woeful and he couldn’t create any danger.
CF: Eddie Nketiah – 4/10 – Pressed well and provided energy. Would have been a threat if Holding didn’t get sent off for sure.
SUB: Emile Smith Rowe (63′ for Martinelli) – 4/10
SUB: Alexandre Lacazette (73′ for Nketiah) – 3/10
SUB: Nuno Tavares (75′ for Gabriel) – 4/10
