The North London Derby ends 1-1 in a exciting match full of intensity. Pochetino had his men organized well but they didn’t perform as well as they could have. They had 60% of the possession, constantly at Arsenals box. They had multiple crosses and were threat from set-pieces but they drew the match through a Harry Kane penalty.
Spurs player ratings:
*Lloris-7 His rating would have been lower due to being faked out like that by Aaron Ramsey in the first goal, but that penalty save vs Aubameyang was very crucial and won Spurs a point
*Vertonghen-7 Once moved to left back in the second half, Vertonghen looked very dangerous attacking wise from the left, giving great crosses. He was doing great in that back, by far Spurs best defender today.
Alderwield-6
*Sanchez-5 Horrible game by the Colombian who could have costed his team the game, and definitely costed them the win. He was at fault for the first goal not defending Ramsey and fouled Aubameyang in the box where if he scored, they would have most definitely lost the match.
Rose-7
*Trippier- 8 By far Spurs best player of the game. He was a constant threat with his crosses and set-pieces. Without him in the side Spurs would have been a different team today.
Wanyama-6
Sissoko-6
Son-5
Erikson-6
*Kane-7 He loves a game versus Arsenal, the club that rejected him at a young age must now regret letting him go, him scoring 9 times versus Arsenal. He scored another penalty today though, now making that 4 penalties versus Arsenal.
Subs:
Lamela-7
Llorente-5
Arsenal Player Ratings:
Leno-7 Great double save by Leno earlier in the game, if that was De Gea it would have been posted everywhere. It’s not easy to save a penalty, the goal wasn’t his fault and he had a great game today.
Monreal-8 He was doing well defensively and would join in the attacks brilliantly, if Lacazette would have scored then he would have had an assist with a man of the match performance.
Sokratis-7
Koscielny-8 Captain performance, him and Sokratis are starting to form a beautiful partnership between them. He had 7 clearances in the match and the defense was well built.
Mustafi-5 Too many times that Mustafi makes reckless challenges in the box for penalties. He had a great performance but these challenges occur way too often.
Guendouzi-7
Xhaka-7
Ramsey-8 My man of the match and he was taken off way to early. The moment he was taken off the game turned around as we lost the pressure he puts. He scored a great goal and it’s a shame he is leaving to Juventus in the summer.
Mkhitaryan-7
Iwobi-7 Both wingers had a great game, taking players on and making great plays, only flaw they had in the game with him and Mkhitaryan was they wouldn’t shoot as much when they had space.
Lacazette-5.5 I would have given him a 5 for the misses he had but with assist he deserves higher but not a 6. He’s a striker and no striker should miss from those chances, I do believe he was taken off to early and if he would have taken the penalty, he would have smashed it in.
Subs:
Torreira-6 He was doing great defensively but that red card challenge was awful. Why would he go in like that when we play Manchester United next week. If they win today and when they play us they’ll jump over us and we can kiss top four good bye. Dreadful tackle by Torreira I don’t know what he was thinking.
Aubameyang-4 That was honestly one of the worst penalties I’ve seen. He stood in a line in front of the ball, you could tell he was nervous and the run up was awful too. He also dived for the penalty too, if you’re going to dive you better make the penalty when you get it. He costed us the win, at home he smashed the penalty in but this time he just gently tapped it, smash it in again what are you doing, just guessing the right side you could save it with the low effort he took it in it.
Ozil-5 Mesut is not an impact player, I don’t blame him for his performance as he is not someone you sub in to win the game. You either start him or don’t play him, that’s my opinion on how you play him.
Emery-6.5 The lineup was almost perfect but instead Torreira should have started but his substitutions were questionable. Lacazette was having an awful game but I wouldn’t have subbed him off as early as he did, and Ozil is not someone you sub in to win you the game, Suarez could have came on as he takes players on, Maitland-Niles could have came on and we switch to 3 in the back where we are usually dangerous.
Referee/FA-1 I never rate the referees but I had to talk about it. England has the worst referees ever, this is why FIFA didn’t take a single English Referee to the World Cup. Spurs get away with too many things from the FA as well. Wenger last season got a bust up with the ref and was suspended for the next game, Pochetino did it versus Burnley and should have missed the game versus Chelsea. Harry Kane headbutted Azpilicuelta on Wednesday and should have been banned for this game. Fellaini headbutted Shawcross in 2014 and got a three-game ban, Alan Pardew headbutted David Meyler and got a SEVEN-game ban. VAR should also be implemented already. The penalty shouldn’t have been a penalty as there was at least 4 Tottenham players offside from that free-kick. Torreira red card I agree it was a foul but not a red card, a yellow yes, but in that case if that was a red then Danny Rose deserved one to for kicking Leno in stomach. Aubameyang also dived for his penalty, luckily for Spurs Lloris saved it but he dived for it so there’s another VAR call that would have been given right.
Overall this was good match for the neutral but it feels like a lost as Arsenal were robbed from a win. Arsenal play Manchester United next in the Premier League next Sunday, where Arsenal desperately need a win now if they want to get into the top four this season. Spurs play Southampton next away and with them getting their first draw today, they need to continue to avoid them and win games as if they drop any points, they’ll enter into the race for top four with Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal.
Alex's Soccer Blog 