Little joke with Arsenal, which has 21 points out of 24 and has settled into the leadership of the Premier to show that its return to the competitive foreground fulfills the plans of the club, which when in December 2019 recruited Mikel from Manchester City Arteta set three years to settle again in positions of access to the Champions League. This bubbly Arsenal can go even further, the squad that aligns the teams with the lowest average age (around 24 years) in the competition. This Saturday he left behind Tottenham (3-1), his archrival in north London, and is already looking towards his next challenge, none other than Liverpool and again at the Emirates, a stadium that vibrates again after in the last six seasons the team was unable to finish the championship in the top four. “We were able to feel the connection with our people and the energy they gave us,” said Arteta at the end of the game. Arsenal is four points ahead of City, which plays its derby against Manchester United at the Etihad on Sunday. Further away is Liverpool, who stumbled again (3-3) at Anfield, this time against Brighton and remain eleven points behind the leader, with one game in hand.
3
Aaron Ramsdale, William Saliba, Ben White (Takehiro Tomiyasu, min. 88), Zinchenko (Tierney, min. 72), Gabriel, Xhaka, Martinelli, Thomas (Albert-Mboyo Sambi Lokonga, min. 72), Odegaard (Fabio Daniel Vieira , min. 79), Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus (Eddie Nketiah, min. 79)
1
Lloris, Cristian Romero, Eric Dier, Clement Lenglet (Davinson Sánchez, min. 70), Emerson, Perisic (Yves Bissouma, min. 70), Hojbjerg (Oliver Skipp, min. 74), Rodrigo Bentancur, Richarlison (Ryan Sessegnon, min. . 70), Kane and Heung-Min Son (Matt Doherty, min. 71)
goals 1-0 min. 19Thomas. 1-1 min. 30: Kane. 2-1 min. 48: Gabriel Jesus. 3-1 min. 66: Xhaka.
Referee anthony taylor
Yellow cards William Saliba (min. 77), Martinelli (min. 84) and Eric Dier (min. 92)
red cards Emerson (min. 61)
“This is what happens when you maintain confidence in a coach”, illustrates Antonio Conte about the plan that Arsenal follows with the new coach from Gipuzkoa. Tottenham’s Italian coach does not usually give praise, of course he is also at a time when the renewal of his contract, which expires in June, is beginning to be negotiated. So far this season he had only been beaten by Sporting Luso in the Champions League. So he showed up at the Emirates with the tag of undefeated in the Premier, but also a prisoner of a history that shows that he has won in just two of his last 38 visits to the Arsenal field, be it the Emirates or the old Highbury.
The data hurts the Spurs, who in 2010 won their last derby away from home and when the ball started rolling they found a roller. Arsenal plays with passion and at full speed, located in attack in a 2-3-5 that refers to the years of Arteta on the right of Guardiola. The Spurs folded with the switch-hitting Perisic as a key figure. Located on the left wing, he formed a back five in the intensive withdrawal of his team, but in attack he spread out and opened the field in such a way that Arsenal suffered without the ball. That double face of Tottenham helped him stay in the game despite the fact that Martinelli shot the post after two minutes and Thomas put the team ahead. gunners with an inside shot from the front that projected the squad. Ten Tottenham players were between the ball and his goal. Arteta does not stop asking the former Atlético player to lavish himself on that fate.
Tottenham scared whenever they could run and found the tie after one of those gallops, in a misguided clearance by Xhaka that generated a fire that ended in a penalty from Gabriel to Richarlison. Harry Kane did not forgive when half an hour of play was completed. Many things had happened and more that were going to happen in a game with a hellish pace. Gabriel Jesus arrived, one of the keys to Arsenal’s step forward, the ideal striker for Arteta. They both knew each other from City and knew what they wanted and how to get it: the key is mobility. From there, Gabriel Jesus is indescribable because he not only finishes off, but he has dribbling or the ability to associate. His presence in the World Cup is not certain, in fact he was left out of the last call-up for Brazil, but Gabriel Jesus is in the best moment of his career because he has not lost his teeth in the area either. As soon as the second half began, he acted as an opportunist to scratch the ball from Lloris, inaccurately in a ruckus that was mounted with his teammate Romero. Gabriel Jesus punished them with the goal that put Arsenal on track for victory.
“We knew exactly what we wanted,” explained Granit Xhaka at the end of the match. After a stormy time in the team and collecting problems with a sector of the fans, after even losing the captaincy in Unai Emery’s time and being a foot and a half out of the Emirates, the Swiss midfielder acts as leader. Arteta has untied the reins and the presence of Thomas allows him to act as finisher. He signed the winning goal when the Spurs were already playing with ten men. “That’s where the game ended,” said Conte. There was half an hour left and Emerson stepped on Martinelli’s ankle in an innocuous action on the side of the field, an imprudence, a thick blur that shattered any hope of a response for Tottenham.
The rest of the day confirmed the problems of Liverpool, who tied with Brighton after coming back from two goals, taking the lead in the final stretch of the duel and suffering a blow from the Belgian Trossard, who scored the three goals of one of the revelations of the Premier, fourth classified at this point. Klopp despaired with the permeability of his team and put the offensive strategy to the imagination of Roberto Firmino, revived by the absence, once again, of Darwin Núñez. The German coach did not give his millionaire signing a chance until the 89th minute.
Chelsea also had problems, unable to beat Crystal Palace (1-2) until the final moments of a game that began losing, in which Aubameyang scored and the talented Conor Gallagher sentenced with a genius from the balcony of the area that He did not celebrate: he had been on loan at the Palace, where he was captain general and they long for his return.
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