Arsenal battled back from a goal down to beat their local rivals Tottenham 2-1 in a thrilling north London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
Despite arriving with eight players out injured, Spurs took the lead through Son Heung-min after the South Korean’s effort took a wicked deflection to beat David Raya. But the hosts had dominated for much of the first half and deservedly equalised when Gabriel’s header ricocheted off Dominic Solanke from a corner to bring them level.
Leandro Trossard fired the hosts in front with a powerful low effort that Spurs’ new £12.5million goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky should have done better to keep out. Arsenal missed ample chances to kill the game off, but they were relieved to walk out winners once again against their north London neighbours.
Express Sport assesses how Mikel Arteta’s men performed with these Arsenal player ratings after a morale-boosting win.
David Raya 6
The Spaniard pulled off a strong stop to deny Kulusevski early on, but he could do very little about Son’s opener after the wicked deflection left him wrong-footed.
Jurrien Timber 6
A solid display without any particular thrills from the right-back. While he was stifled in getting forward, the Dutchman for the most part kept Son’s influence to a minimum.
William Saliba 7
The Frenchman had performed well up until Son’s effort deflected in off his foot, for which he was an innocent bystander but perhaps could’ve done better with.
Gabriel Magalhaes 8
Made an unbelievable intervention to deny Solanke a simple tap-in. And then the Brazilian delivered at the other end, rising high to nod home – courtesy of the Tottenham striker’s final touch – from a corner. The way he rallied the crowd and his team-mates proved he is a natural leader, making some vital blocks and tackles.
Myles Lewis-Skelly 8
The Arsenal faithful roared in support of the 18-year-old after launching himself into a robust but fair tackle on Pape Matar Sarr. The youngster did a very good job in marshalling Dejan Kulusevski in the second half too and is going from strength to strength. Booked as he came off.
Declan Rice 7
From his support runs down the left to his crafted touches to set up his team-mates, this was another commanding display from the £105million man who covered every blade of grass on the Emirates pitch.
Thomas Partey 6
Too slow to move out of the box and close down Son for the opener and the most expendable of the midfield three as the midfield was bypassed by Yves Bissouma in the first half.
Martin Odegaard 8
Looked sharper than he perhaps has done in recent weeks with some testing balls whipped into the box. Also won the ball high up the pitch and supplied the assist for Trossard’s goal. When Arsenal fell behind, the captain didn’t hide.
Leandro Trossard 7
One early chance fell the Belgian’s away but his finish was representative of a man without a goal in 11 Premier League matches. But he got the luck he deserved for continuing to plug away, striking a low effort that bounced in off Kinsky’s weak hand. Had his name chanted as he trudged off late on.
Kai Havertz 6
Kept his place in the side despite missing a gluttony of chances last time out and looked hungry to make amends. Very nearly caught out Antonin Kinsky with a determined piece of pressing from the front. But the German once again missed a simple header from point-blank range. Booked.
Raheem Sterling 5
A surprise starter ahead of Gabriel Martinelli, the winger was handed a glorious early chance to put the hosts in front. However, he looked forlorn of confidence and fluffed his lines on more than one occasion. Hooked with an hour gone and the 30-year-old could have no complaints.
Substitutes
Gabriel Martinelli (on 61′) 6
The Brazilian injected some pace and excitement into the front three after replacing Sterling without truly testing Kinsky.
Kieran Tierney (on 76′)
A surprise appearance for the Scot from the bench amid rumours of a return to Celtic, he created one decent chance that Odegaard missed.
Mikel Merino (on 87′) N/A
Oleksandr Zinchenko (on 87′) N/A
Belgium
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