Even with a significantly diminished side Arsenal were still able to go into Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and beat their London rival, 1-0. This was the Gunners third consecutive away victory in the North London derby, something they had never done in the Premier League era.

For most of the match Mikel Arteta’s men had to defend wave after wave after wave of Tottenham pressure, with a few small spells of possession mixed in. The break-through came in the 2nd half, around minute 63, when Bukayo Saka’s shot was blocked earning Arsenal a corner. He took the corner in-front of the traveling Arsenal supporters and dropped in a beautiful cross, which Gabriel Magalhães attacked forcefully and headed past Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario for the lead. There was a bit of controversary as Big Gab slightly pushed Spurs centerback Cristian Romero in the back to free himself for the header. Sure, there was contact between the two, but nothing unjust or outside of the rules. VAR agreed, and after a quick check the goal was confirmed. Tottenham fans will cry about the decision, maybe so will the pundits, but either way it counted. After the goal, Spurs threw everything they had at Arsenal, but were unsuccessful in their pursuit of an equalizer. North London is red!

Going into the derby, Mikel Arteta had to deal with a substantial injury and suspension crisis, mostly in midfield. Declan Rice was suspended for the match after being handed two yellow cards in the previous match against Brighton. While summer signing Mikel Merino picked up a shoulder fracture during his first practice with the team and is out for 6-to-8 weeks. Martin Ødegaard was also unavailable after sustaining a serious ankle injury while on international duty for Norway, with their team doctor Ola Sand saying the injury could take up to 3 weeks to heal. The injury situation extended beyond the midfield and impacted the defense/bench too.

Versatile defender Riccardo Calafiori had his ankle stepped on during Italy’s match against France. He had to come off the field and left the Italian camp early. Oleksandr Zinchenko was a surprise omission after Arteta reveled he had a calf injury. Takehiro Tomiyasu has been out since the preseason with a knee injury; no updated timeline has been given since the manager vaguely said, “it will takes weeks on that one.” It was all hands on deck for the Gunners heading into the match.

Down two of their most influential players, Mikel Arteta knew he had to make a change to the team sheet/matchday 18 and tactically; by ceding possession, focusing on defending and hitting Tottenham on the counter or through a set-piece.

Jorginho and Thomas Partey started in midfield, along with Leandro Trossard. The makeshift trio weren’t too active going forward or helping sustain possession, most of the team wasn’t either, but they did provide enough resistance to force Tottenham to play down the wings. Partey was the most solid of the three; cutting off passing lanes, getting physical with the opposition and tracking back. Surprisingly, Jorginho tried to get forward a couple of times (gulp) and was caught out of possession, including losing the ball at midfield and then wrestling a Spurs player to the ground that resulted in a yellow card. They did a solid job staying disciplined, not pressing forward and protecting the back-4.

Speaking about the defense it was impenetrable. William Saliba was his normal sparkling self, even after picking up a yellow card early on. Credit to him for staying physical and not shrinking from going into challenges after picking up the card. No doubt Tottenham was looking to attack him and force a mistake or 2nd yellow. He kept his head and showed why he’s one of the best defenders in the Premier League, and the world. He broke up play numerous times, both inside and outside the box, with his feet, body and head, and kept his emotions in check. Another great performance. It’s no wonder Real Madrid are sending scouts to watch him play.

His partner, Gabriel Magalhães, was one of the best players on the pitch, earning a man of the match award. In addition to scoring the game-winning goal, he put Tottenham’s record signing Dominic Solanke in his pocket, rendering him all but useless. The £65m dollar striker, signed from Bournemouth, was active in attack but didn’t create any significant chances or shots on target for Spurs. A couple of times Big Gab used his robust frame to knock the Englishman off the ball. One of these tussles came late in the 2nd half when Solanke flashed into the box and was beaten to the ball, by a split-second, by the Brazilian defender. The Spurs striker fell to the floor, looking for a penalty that wasn’t there. Solanke’s Tottenham career hasn’t gotten off to great start.

Jurrien Timber, filling in at left-back, was also outstanding. After missing all of last season due to injury, he’s hit the ground running, even playing out of position. Against Spurs, he was bombing up and down the left-flank combining well with left-winger Gabriel Martinelli. Their partnership gets stronger by the week. One controversial moment happened in the first half when Timber lost control of the ball, with Pedro Porro bearing down on him. The two crashed into each other, with Timber nailing Porro high on the ankle. Referee Jarred Gillett immediately yellow carded Timber while VAR took a further look. While under review, a couple of Tottenham players took exception with the foul and ran up to him. Keeper Guglielmo Vicario was the angriest of the group and got right up into the defenders’ face/chest and laid hands on him. Timber didn’t take too kindly to the treatment and grabbed the ‘keeper by the shirt and went face-to-face with the Italian. The rest of the players surrounded the pair and forced them apart. No further action was taken against Timber. He might’ve nailed down a starting role at LB for the foreseeable future.

The only defender who had a bit of trouble was right-back Ben White. He was having a ton of trouble staying with Spurs talisman Son Heung-min in 1v1 defending. Someone on Arsenal’s staff noticed and made sure to address it by having another player shade towards White to give him additional support. It worked well, as Son wasn’t as effective in the 2nd half. The worrying trend is how poorly Saka and White are combining going forward. They haven’t been on the same page, at all, this season with their interplay. Saka is always being doubled, so it should be easy for White to find empty space to exploit and create some chances. This has not been the case, and is something Arteta will need to address. The front-3 had very few chances or opportunities getting forward, and when they did most of it was wasteful.

Worryingly right-winger Bukayo Saka looked off the pace from the start and it felt like he never really got into the flow of the match, except for his moment of magic on the assist. His disappointing day ended when he came off in the 2nd half, due to a calf injury, and was replaced by youngster Ethan Nwaneri, who made an important block and provided good energy while pressing. He’s one to watch this season. Keeping Saka fresh, for an entire campaign, must be one of the top things on Mikel Arteta’s mind. He’s too important to lose for any amount of time.

Martin Ødegaard normally leads the press, but with him out the duty fell to Kai Havertz. Although, the high-press wasn’t a large part of the Arsenal gameplan, as they wanted to stay solid in midfield and keep their shape intact, not pushing their guys too far forward. This meant Havertz was mostly neutered in attack, only generating a couple of half-chance headers, and was forced to find alternative ways to affect the match, mostly through defense. He did just this by using his height to clear the ball multiple times and tried to be an outlet for David Raya’s long-ball.

Gabriel Martinelli had one very good chance to score when he ran in behind the Spurs defense, was found by Leandro Trossard, and went 1v1 with the goalkeeper, only for his shot to fly over the bar. Saka had made a run into the middle of the box too and was upset the Brazilian didn’t pass it to him. The one thing he did well was track back on defense and provide Jurrien Timber with support.

Goalkeeper David Raya has been the most consistent performer for the Gunners four games into the season. He’s made a handful of unbelievable saves and only given up 1 goal so far, off a rebound that bounced right back into the path of a player. The way he uses his feet to pass and on the ball has unlocked a different dimension in the Arsenal attack. He also doesn’t make many unforced errors and reads attacking angels very well. He’s not the biggest guy, so the opposition can be physical with him and knock him around. Although, he’s done a better job on crosses commanding the box and being stronger with his punches. Tottenham didn’t make him work too hard outside of maybe two or three shots.

Overall, this was a very professional performance by Arsenal. They went into a highly charged atmosphere, with Tottenham desperately needing a result to kickstart their season, and stuck to their gameplan to perfection, resulting in a solid 1-0 victory. It was even more impressive after seeing all the match-winners who couldn’t play for the Gunners due to injury or suspension.

Spurs fans should be a little concerned, as the Gunners were there for the taking yet dug deep and kept a clean sheet. Tottenham have gotten off to a very slow start, going 1-1-2 in the first 4 matches, and currently sit in 13th place.

Next up for Arsenal a huge week awaits. First, they travel to Italy to face Atalanta on Thursday in the opening match of the new Champions League format. Then the biggest match of the domestic season takes place on Sunday, when they square off against the monster that is Pep Guardiola & Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Now the season really starts to crank up!

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!