Arsenal edged past courtesy of a goal by Gabriel Magalhães against Tottenham Hotspur in the first North London Derby in the Premier League 2024-25 in Tottenham Stadium on Sunday.
Before coming to the match, Mikel Arteta was forced to make two changes in the starting lineup with Declan Rice (suspended) and Martin Ødegaard (injured) making their way for Gabriel Martinelli and Jorginho respectively. On the other hand, Postecoglou made four changes in their lineup with Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Micky van de Ven making their way into the starting XI replacing Wilson Odobert, Pape Matar Sarr, Radu Dragusin, and Yves Bissouma.
Match Report: As It Happened
First Half
The first half of the North London derby in Tottenham Stadium kicked off by the visitors. Tottenham maintained early pressure on Arsenal as at the mark of the fifth minute, Son Heung Min provided a great ball to Dejan Kulusevski whose shot was saved by David Raya. In the 8th minute, Kulusevski sent a curling ball targeting Dominic Solanke, who failed to provide a touch, but Raya did enough to keep it out of the net. A loose defensive pass by Ben White almost created another threat for Arsenal as the ball fell for Dominic Solanke but the English striker’s attempt was defended by Gabriel Magalhães.
The visitors created their first chance at the mark of the 17th minute with Leandro Trossard’s cross finding Kai Havertz, but the German striker’s header was saved by Guglielmo Vicario. A few minutes later, Gabriel Martinelli found himself in a near one-on-one situation with Vicario, but the Brazilian forward failed to finish.
Things got heated up in Tottenham Stadium after Jurien Timber got in a tussle with Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario for a foul on Pedro Porro. Both Timber and Vicario were shown a yellow card by the referee Jarred Gillett. The home team again came close to breaking the deadlock as Brennan Johnson was beautifully set up by Dejan Kulusevski, but the Welsh striker failed to keep his shot on target.
Although Tottenham Hotspur had more ball possession (67%) than Arsenal (33%), both teams had 5 shots on target, with almost equal xG (Tottenham Hotspur: 0.42; Arsenal: 0.41). The home team had more than double the number of passes (268) than Arsenal (128).
Second Half
The 2nd half started on a very high note for the hosts as Brennan Johnson provided a wonderful cross to Dominic Solanke, whose header was put away for a corner. James Maddison’s corner found a free header of Micky van de Ven, but the header was straight to the hands of Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.
At the mark of the 63rd minute, the visiting side came up with a great counterattack to stun the hosts, with Bukayo Saka dispatching a shot, which was blocked by Spanish defender Pedro Porro. But the deadlock was soon broken from the corner by Saka which was headed in by Brazilian defender Gabriel Magalhães.
The hosts tried to equalize after a wonderful cross by James Maddison trying to find Dominic Solanke who failed to provide the final touch. In the 82nd minute, the newly introduced Pape Matar Sarr tried his luck from a distance but his shot was off target. In the dying minutes of the match, Swedish midfielder Dejan Kulusevski almost scored a great goal from distance, but his shot missed the goal by inches.
Arsenal now have recorded three successive away league wins at Tottenham in the North London Derby for the first time since 1988.
Lineups
Tottenham Hotspur: Guglielmo Vicario; Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie; Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur (Pape Matar Sarr, 68’), James Maddison (Timo Werner, 80’); Brennan Johnson (Wilson Odobert, 68’), Son Heung-min, Dominic Solanke.
Arsenal: David Raya; Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba, Jurrien Timber, Ben White; Leandro Trossard (Raheem Sterling, 80’), Thomas Partey, Jorginho; Gabriel Martinelli (Gabriel Jesus, 80’), Bukayo Saka (Ethan Nwaneri, 86’), Kai Havertz.
What’s Next for Both Teams?
Tottenham Hotspur will be facing Coventry on the 19th of September at the Coventry Building Society Arena in the Third Round of the EFL Cup.
On the other hand, Arsenal will be facing Atalanta on the 20th of September at Gewiss Stadium in the UEFA Champions League.
