Arsenal 3-1 Spurs
by Layth Yousif
at Ashburton Grove

ARSENAL beat Spurs 3-1 to win the north London derby on Saturday lunchtime to the delight of jubilant home fans. Goals from Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka sealed the victory after Harry Kane had levelled the opener with a spot-kick, after Gabriel Magalhaes had fouled Richarlison.

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners were simply too good for the visitors, who had Emerson Royal sent off in the 62nd minute for a cynical challenge on Gabi Martinelli, with the score at 2-1. 

Earlier on a red letter day, Partey opened the scoring with a long-range strike on 20 minutes at a raucous Ashburton Grove, after being fed by Ben White. It must be said the former Brighton defender had an excellent match as right-back, notable in his defensive duties as he was effective in supplementing attacks further forward. 

Yet, he could do nothing when Kane equalised 11 minutes later with his fourth penalty in N5 in his last four north London derbies, following a clumsy challenge by Gabriel. 

While Spurs boss Antonio Conte bemoaned after the match that the red card had “killed the game,” Arsenal were dominant throughout the pulsating clash, with the rampant Gunners going 2-1 ahead 240 seconds after the interval. 

Not content with leaving champions Manchester City for a new challenge under Pep Guardiola’s former coach Arteta, Gabriel Jesus has been showing Arsenal supporters his hunger as a Fox-in-the-Box poacher to go with his outstanding technical ability and silky movement on and off the ball. 

The 25-year-old Brazil forward capitalised on a mix-up between Hugo Lloris and Cristian Romero. The goal was instructive in Jesus showing heartening grit and determination, as much as style, to stab the ball home from close range, to make it five goals in eight league appearances this season — sending the home support into raptures. 

On 62 minutes, referee Anthony Taylor was left with no choice but to issue a straight red card to Royal, who was poor throughout. 

Arsenal duly capitalised through redemption man Xhaka, exuberantly firing home past Lloris, after Martinelli played the ball to the Swiss international. The strike prompted further outpourings of joy among Gunners fans. The joy was unbridled, not least because many had written off the 30-year-old following his on-pitch outburst against Crystal Place back in 2019. 

However, everyone loves a story of atonement, and there can be no more resilient player in the top flight than the Gunners midfield man now revelling in a much more attacking role, that has seen him score twice and post three assists already this season.

No wonder a delighted Arteta said afterwards: “I’m really happy, it was a great performance, a great day with an incredible atmosphere to play in.

“I’m so grateful to all the people that connect with the team in such a special way. I’m really happy because it’s an opportunity to make a lot of people happy and proud and I think we have delivered that to all of them.”