Arsenal have picked up an ugly win against Tottenham Hotspur and these three points will go a long way in helping the Gunners challenge Manchester City for the title.
Mikel Arteta was without some very important players which is why it was a very even contest. However, one brilliant close-range header from Gabriel was enough to secure a superb away win for the Gunners in the Premier League.
It was a proper team performance from Arteta’s boys but after the match, three players have been picking up most of the plaudits and rightly so.
The first and obvious one is Gabriel who scored the only goal of the game in the 64th minute. Apart from the goal he also put up a stellar defensive performance, making 7 clearances, two blocks, and one major interception.
Alan Shearer has praised Gabriel and also the fact that Arsenal managed a win despite missing Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.
“The talk was about their big hitters (Rice and Odegaard) missing for them and how would they cope,” said Shearer, as quoted. “There is your answer.
“Without playing particularly well or having to play well. The impressive thing about him (Arteta) and his team is how hard they worked. How good they were defensively.
“They had all the right answers. I thought Tottenham were really poor, again in forward positions. Like they have been for most of the season, certainly at Leicester, Newcastle and today. They couldn’t get past that back four, especially him (Gabriel), who was outstanding.”
Gary Neville heaped praise on the goal-scorer but the Man United legend also talked about Bukayo Saka and work-ethic off the ball.
“His work off the ball defensively, I don’t think there are many better wide players in terms of understanding their position for the team and when they are out of position than him,” Neville said on Sky Sports.
“Absolutely fantastic. The work he has done around Ben White has been wonderful.”
Saka went off the pitch with an injury towards the end of the match, however, for the 86 minutes he was on the pitch, the England international contributed in every area of the pitch. Defensively, he won 100% of his tackles, plus he also made 3 recovery runs alongside four successful duels.
Son had the beating of Ben White on a couple of occasions but Bukayo Saka was there each time to double up and make sure that the Spurs winger does not get running space.
Apart from Saka and Gabriel, the other person who has been sharing the glory is Jurrien Timber. The 23-year-old missed a large chunck of the previous season due to a major injury however, this campaign, he has been one of the first names on Mikel Arteta’s teamsheet.
On Saturday, the Arsenal full-back made 3 clearances, one key interception and five recovery runs. Timber was given the task to keep Brennan Johnson and Kulusevski in check and the Netherlands international has passed with flying colours.
This one was a hard-fought win for Arsenal, that too over their arch-rivals and currently, they are just two points behind Manchester City. Next up, they will face Atalanta in the Champions League and then next weekend, Arteta will take his team to the Etihad Stadium to face the league leaders.
