Harry Kane and Son Heung Min combined to give Tottenham a 2-0 win as they welcomed Arsenal for the 188th North London derby.
Arsenal had been boosted by the return of the hitherto injured Thomas Partey to the starting line-up. While the influence of 2,000 Tottenham supporters raised the spirits of the hosts.
Jose Mourinho’s usual game plan of parking the bus worked perfectly well for him in the first half.
Arsenal had made a fitting move to struggle for honours when Bukayo Saka let fly from outside the box in the fifth minute, but, his effort went over the bar.
Five minutes later, Thomas Partey attempted to beat Hugo Lloris but the ball was a mishit by the Ghanaian.
However, Son Heung Min set the stadium alight when he wrapped his sensational strike from a long way to give Tottenham the lead.
It came as Tottenham’s front three combining in a swift counter attack set Son free and he went for the spectacular curled effort which beat Bernd Leno completely.
Arsenal pushed for an equalizer as they had the lion share of the possession, while Tottenham remained tight at the back. On the other hand, Emile Hojberg’s 25th minute shot went straight at Leno.
Two minutes before the break, Alexander Lacazette who hadn’t scored since October, went for goal from a free kick, however, Harry Kane who was among the members of the wall, nodded it out for a corner kick.
It was Harry Kane who would land the killer blow on Arsenal in the added time of the first half as Tottenham switched from defense to attack and Son found Kane in the box, then Kane smashed the ball into the net to make it 2-0.
Kane with the goal became the leading scorer in North London derby history as he reached 250 career goals.
Partey had to leave the pitch with immediate effect following an injury. He was replaced by Dani Ceballos before the break.
At the commencement of the second half, Arsenal started brightly as Aubameyang’s header from a Tierney cross sailed over the bar. Tierney’s cross found Willian again in the box, only for Willian to rocket it away from goal.
Lacazette came close to reducing the deficit in the 67th minute, from a header which Hugo Lloris dealt with. With three minutes to go, Lacazette unleashed a strike which went wide. Mourinho’s men protected the lead throughout the second half as Arsenal with more than 70% of the possession piled pressure but to no avail.
With the win, Tottenham have now displaced Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table. This also means Jose Mourinho maintained his perfect home record against the Gunners.
There is fire on the mountain for an Arsenal side which remain in 15th position on the table after 11 games to pile more pressure on Mikel Arteta.
