In Arsene Wenger’s early days as Arsenal manager, he repeatedly suggested his side were at a disadvantage compared to perennial title rivals Manchester United. The issue, he reasoned, was that Arsenal had to play so many derbies. There wasn’t simply Tottenham Hotspur to consider, but Chelsea, West Ham United, Wimbledon, often Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace, too. Derby games were considered more hectic, more physical and simply tougher.
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It’s questionable whether there was any merit in it. United had plenty of matches against north-west rivals, too, and no side relished a trip to Wimbledon, regardless of geography. “Arsenal always complain about the London derbies but I can’t work that one out,” Sir Alex Ferguson once responded. “They’ve lost only one in three years, haven’t they?”
In the last 25 years or so, these London derbies probably don’t completely conform to the stereotype. Is Arsenal vs Fulham really a grudge match because they’re from opposite sides of the capital? Do Tottenham particularly fear a trip to Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium?
Few can have any doubts, though, about this derby.
Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over Tottenham was both a terrible match and a brilliant match, which is what derbies are all about. It was terrible in terms of combination play in the final third, in terms of James Maddison and Martin Odegaard, the two chief creators, getting on the ball, and in terms of the quality of four of the five goals. And it was brilliant in terms of incident, in terms of drama, in terms of the intensity and the atmosphere.
This fixture is statistically the Premier League atmosphere where home advantage makes the biggest difference. Arsenal tend to win at the Emirates, Tottenham tend to win here. That makes away wins like this particularly memorable. “Emotional game, a tough place to come, an incredible atmosphere,” said Arteta. “You can’t pretend you’re going to come here, not suffer and have a comfortable afternoon.”
Arsenal raced into a 3-0 lead without ever really playing well. Their first and third goals were both from corners, meaning they have now scored 16 in the Premier League this season, the most since Tony Pulis’ West Brom in 2016-17. The other was, granted, a wonderful sweeping counter-attacking initiated by Kai Havertz’s diagonal pass and Bukayo Saka’s trademark finish, a rare moment of quality.
16 – Arsenal have scored 16 goals from corners in the Premier League this season, the most by a team in a single campaign since West Bromwich Albion under Tony Pulis in 2016-17 (16). Strategy. pic.twitter.com/uEprfiFN4Z
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 28, 2024
Tottenham’s goals were rather scrappy, too: Cristian Romero bafflingly found himself on the edge of the opposition box to pounce on a goalkeeping error, then Son Heung-min’s penalty after Declan Rice had clumsily hacked at Ben Davies while trying to clear. Tottenham’s late spell of pressure was almost solely about set pieces and crosses rather than good football. Raya, whose mistake let Tottenham back in, deserves credit for his proactive nature in dealing with high balls. “He was sensational for the last 20-25 minutes of the game,” said Arteta.
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The main feature of the game, though, was physicality and big tackles. The main character here was inevitably Romero, who went absolutely flying into challenges on Havertz. “He was outstanding,” Ange Postecoglou said afterwards. “He’s a World Cup winner. We’ve got to get some of what’s in him into the others.”
But Davies, usually a much more considered defender, got stuck into Saka. Micky van de Ven’s main defensive task for the day was simply sprinting backwards and getting his body between man and ball. Shortly after Romero’s goal got Tottenham back in the game, substitute Yves Bissouma went flying into a tackle that produced a huge roar, and let Arsenal know that, suddenly, it was game on.
At the other end, Arsenal largely dealt with crosses well, in part because they’re essentially playing four centre-backs. There are drawbacks to that approach, but Ben White dealt with far-post crosses excellently and Takehiro Tomiyasu covered when Gabriel got drawn out of position. In using Rice and Thomas Partey together, Arteta was using his most defensive-minded midfield combination after they’d played well together in the 5-0 thrashing of another London rival, Chelsea.
It wasn’t a day for tactical genius or moments of attacking magic, and if Arsenal needed any warning about the nature of a derby game, it came from fellow title contenders Liverpool’s disastrous performance at Goodison Park on Wednesday night, when they seemingly lost every duel across the pitch and allowed Sean Dyche’s side to dictate the terms of the game.
Arsenal, with the exception of the start of the second half, didn’t offer enough control to keep Tottenham at arm’s length. But they were, by and large, able to cope with the onslaught and able to cope with the psychological challenge of a derby game when the opposition have scored two goals, have momentum, and are starting to believe. The only surprise was that the game ended without a red card.
In a wider sense, there’s a creeping worry from supporters that all football is starting to look the same. All teams are playing in roughly the same manner and all stadiums increasingly look identical. But these two derbies in recent days — Liverpool’s short trip to Everton, Arsenal’s slightly longer trip to Tottenham — provide a counter-point. Derbies are different. They require a different tactical approach and a different attitude. “This team has a lot of courage and a lot of determination,” Arteta said.
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Liverpool’s title challenge ended at Goodison Park. Arsenal’s title challenge survived a trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Unfortunately for them, Manchester City’s remaining derby comes in the FA Cup final, rather than in the league. At this stage of the season, “every game is a cup final”. Thankfully for Arsenal, not every game is a derby.
(Top photo: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
