Jump directly to the content

Ben White has been spotted distracting goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario before Arsenal's opening goal in the North London derby.

The Gunners are taking on bitter rivals Tottenham and they raced into a dominant 3-0 lead in the first half.

White sneakily tried to undo Vicario's glove
4
White sneakily tried to undo Vicario's glove

Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka got on the scoresheet but the opening goal came from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg turning the ball into his own net.

The opener happened with Saka's whipped corner hitting Hojbjerg and beating Vicario at his near post.

The Italian goalkeeper looked as if he couldn't have done anything about it but replays showed he may have been distracted.

As White stood awaiting the cross into the box, he was stood behind Vicario and began to eye up his gloves.

READ MORE ON PREMIER LEAGUE

After a glance at them, he seemed to stick his hand out and try to unstrap one of the Spurs man's gloves.

His attempt was unsuccessful but it forced Vicario to turn around and wave his arm in the air to get him off.

Seconds later, Hojbjerg's deflection would sneak in at the near post to open the scoring for Arsenal.

Gunners fans loved White's attempt to distract Vicario, with one posting on social media: "Benny loves to employ the dark arts."

White tried to grab Vicario's glove strap to distract him
4
White tried to grab Vicario's glove strap to distract him
4
He was forced to whip his arm away to avoid White taking his glove off
4
He was forced to whip his arm away to avoid White taking his glove off

Another wrote: "Vicario was clueless for a minute!"

"He’s a menace and we love him for it," a third Arsenal fan said.

Before a fourth posted: "Ben White’s trick of unsettling the goalkeeper yielding results once again."

The own goal that followed White's antics was the beginning of a superb half from Arsenal.

They took control of the north London derby and cruised into a 3-0 lead at half time, however, Spurs pulled two back to make it 3-2.

Mikel Arteta's side managed to hold on though and picked up a crucial three points int the Premier League title race.

The Gunners are now four points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, with City playing Nottingham Forest later on Sunday.

Topics