Our 3⃣ points as Arsenal hold off Tottenham fightback | OneFootball

Arsenal survived a late scare to beat Tottenham in the north London derby, holding on to come out on the right side of a five goal thriller.

Cruising in the second half, a mistake from David Raya and Declan Rice conceding a penalty piled on the pressure, but Mikel Arteta’s side held firm to claim all three points.

Here are the three key things we picked out from the fiery encounter.

Tottenham’s Champions League hopes hang by a thread

Heading into this game, Tottenham’s Champions League fate was in their own hands. Chelsea’s draw with Aston Villa meant that the Lilywhites were seven points behind Aston Villa, but had three games in hand on Unai Emery’s side.

Now though, their hopes hang by a thread. With their fate out of their hands, Spurs face Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool in their final four games, and it looks like a tough ask to qualify for Europe’s elite competition now.

Arsenal a different team 12 months on

12 months ago this weekend, Arsenal were being thrashed 4-1 by Manchester City in a result that took the title out of their hands.

A year on, it is once again City that are their major rivals, but this time Arsenal are keeping pace.

They were guilty of throwing away their chances a year ago, and did their best to do it again this time round, with David Raya providing a gorgeous assist for Cristian Romero before Declan Rice kicked through Ben Davies.

But they found a way to come through and in truth were good value for their win, with Arteta’s side comfortable mistakes aside.

It was far from a vintage Arsenal performance; in the first half they managed just 28% possession, but they were at their most clinical to put the game to bed, and put the pressure back on Manchester City.

£60m well spent

When he was signed last summer, plenty of fans from across the Premier League were left scratching their head as to why Arsenal for Kai Havertz.

However, since moving from central midfield to no.9, he has been a man transformed.

That was on show against Tottenham, where he grabbed himself a goal and an assist as well as utilising his size to great effect with his hold up play and linking Arsenal’s attack together nicely.

Though there are certainly areas for him to improve, is there a better striker on the market for Arsenal to sign this summer that won’t make them break the bank?