Son Heung-min kept Tottenham’s pride alive as he continued his sensational run.
Tottenham drew 2-2 with Arsenal in the sixth round of the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) at the Emirates Stadium in London, England, on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. With just one point, Spurs had to settle for fourth place in the league with 14 points. Arsenal, who were goal difference behind Spurs, dropped to fifth place.
While vice-captain and defensive core Christian Romero was very shaky in this game, captain Son Heung-min’s performance stood out. He scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season against Arsenal in quick succession, earning the Gunners a valuable point away from home.
With his two goals, Son moved into sole possession of second place on the PL goalscoring list behind Elling Holland (7). James Maddison, who assisted on both of Son’s goals, moved into sole possession of first place in the assists category.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal deployed a 4-3-3 formation. Due to injuries to Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trosar, Arsenal’s attacking lineup consisted of Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah, and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Fabio Vieira came in for the out-of-form Kai Havertz. Declan Rice and Martin Ødegaard partnered Vieira in the midfield. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, and Ben White made up the defense. David Luiz was again in goal.
Tottenham also made changes on the road. In a 4-2-3-1 formation, Son Heung-min started up front. Brennan Johnson started on the left wing instead of Manor Solomon. The rest of the team was unchanged.
James Maddison and Dejan Kulusebski started in the second line. Yves Bissouma and Pape Sar partnered in midfield, while Destiny Udoji, Mickey van der Penn, Christian Romero, and Pedro Foro made up the back four. Guglielmo Vicario was in goal.
Tottenham captain Son Heung-min’s confidence was high ahead of what was expected to be one of the fiercest North London derbies in history. “I don’t think Arsenal will want to face us now,” he told the UK’s The Times on April 19. We are all playing for each other, fighting for each other. If someone falls behind, we give them a hand and everyone is happy. That makes us really strong as a team,” he said, sounding confident and warning.
Before kickoff, Son called the players together in front of the Tottenham fans who had traveled with them on the trip. Heung-min went into the game with his captaincy on full display.
As expected, the pressure was on from the start. Arsenal showed right from the start that this was a North London derby, with Jeju pressing hard on Bissouma and Romero.
The Gunners had the first real chance of the game on the counterattack. In the third minute, a counter-attack through Madison found Johnson. Johnson took the pass from Maddison and tried to take a bold shot, but the Arsenal physical defense caught him and forced a corner.
Johnson’s corner is cleared by Maddison. The ball was cleared off the line by the Arsenal defense and Bissouma took the ball. Son Heung-min, who had cut in front of the goal, deftly redirected Bissouma’s shot to beat Raya.
However, Son Heung-min was clearly offside when Bisuma’s shot was taken. Heung-min was aware of his offside and didn’t even bother with a ceremony.
The rest of the game played out as Tottenham had possession of the ball, but Arsenal pressed hard to disrupt them. Arsenal pressed hard, marking every Spurs player one-on-one. With the midfield clogged, Spurs struggled to build up and didn’t create as many chances as they normally do.
In the seventh minute of the first half, Arsenal tried to attack. Jezus cut back to the left and played a pass to Nketiah, who was making a run. Van der Penn read Nketiah’s movements perfectly and made a clean tackle to stop the Arsenal attack.
The match continued to ignite. In the ninth minute, Jeju pressed Bissouma again, this time tightly, and although the referee blew for a foul, the continued harsh pressure from Jeju infuriated Bissouma, and a minor nervous breakdown occurred.
Spurs didn’t have much of an answer to Arsenal’s pressure. Foro also moved into the center to help with the buildup, but to little effect. Unable to break the pressure, they often gave up possession to Arsenal with ease. Even when Vicario tried a long kick, it didn’t have much effect as Tottenham didn’t have anyone in the attacking third with a height advantage.스포츠토토
Arsenal’s first chance of the game also came after breaking up a Tottenham buildup. In the 13th minute, Ödegaard scraped the ball away from Bissouma and played it straight to Xhaka. Saka sent a pinpoint cross towards Jeju that was missed by Poro. Jejus concentrated and tried to shoot, but his effort was saved by Vicario. Tottenham had escaped the danger.
The game became increasingly heated. In the 15th minute, Udoji made a late challenge on Sakho after the ball was passed to him. Xhaka cried out in pain. The referee immediately warned Udoji. Ödegaard was also cautioned for protesting to the referee.
Tottenham were in trouble again. In the 16th minute, Udoji delivered a backpass to van der Penne that was completely misdirected. Nketiah intercepted the ball and had the perfect opportunity to score. But once again, Vicario made the perfect save to save his team.
Tottenham slowly got used to Arsenal’s pressing pattern. In the 18th minute, an attack from Romé found Foro. Foro whipped in a sharp cross that was cleared off the line by White. Sarr followed up with a shot from outside the box that was headed high into the air.
From the midway point of the first half, the battle for the ball continued to be fierce. Both teams continued to attack at a high tempo, winning and losing the ball. It was Arsenal who took the lead in the North London derby.
In the 25th minute, Arsenal broke up a Tottenham attack and quickly transitioned into an offense. Ödegaard won the ball and wasted no time getting it to Xhaka. White’s quick overlap drew the defense’s attention. White’s quick overlap drew the attention of the defense. Sakho then cut into the middle of the box and tried to shoot. Romero tried to block Sakho’s shot, resulting in an own goal.
Vicario and the rest of the Tottenham team had a heart-to-heart with Romero to regroup. Sakho taunted Tottenham by performing a darting gesture, a signature move of Spurs vice-captain Maddison. Arsenal set the tone perfectly after the goal and pushed for more.
In the first 30 minutes, the Gunners had some fun with Xhaka. Xhaka beat Udoji before feeding Vieira. Vieira’s cross came in sharply, but van der Penn cleared it away in front of goal.
In the 32nd minute, Arsenal missed a golden opportunity. Vicario passed the ball to Maddison. Jeju won the ball after a moment of pressure. The Tottenham defense was completely unmarked and it was a perfect scoring opportunity, but Jeju’s shot went high and wide. Jeju also had themselves to blame.
Arsenal continued to have fun down the right flank. In the 37th minute, Xhaka got the ball and drove forward. Van der Penn tried to keep him in check but couldn’t make a 100% save. Ödegaard followed up with a pass from Xhaka, but his shot was straight at the keeper.
Tottenham had the first real chance of the game. In the 38th minute, a counterattack began with Son Heung-min linking up in the center of the box and finding Kluczewski. Heung-min released the ball and cut back to his right. Kluczewski played an exquisite pass to Son Heung-min. Heung-min cut back, and Johnson was on target with his shot, but Lallana got down to save Arsenal.
Spurs, buoyed by the momentum, equalized. The hero was Son Heung-min. In the 42nd minute, he beat Xhaka with an exquisite individual effort from the left. After saving the ball at the end of the line, he sent a pass into the center. The ball found its way to the center of the Arsenal defense, where it was met with an exquisite shot by Son Heung-min. Heung-min’s shot was aimed squarely at Raya, who couldn’t get a hand to it, and it hit the post.
Son celebrated with his teammates. He celebrated with vice-captain Maddison, who recorded the assist.
Tottenham picked up two first-half cautions. In the process of stopping an Arsenal counter-attack, Sarr roughly defended Jezuzu. The referee immediately pointed to the spot. Bissouma protested strongly and received a further caution. Romero’s own goal and Son Heung-min’s equalizer ended the first half.
Arteta made a big change at the start of the second half. Jorginho came on for Rice, a key midfielder. Jorginho replaced Vieira, who lacked presence in the first half. Spurs stuck with their starting lineup.
Five minutes into the second half, the game was back in Arsenal’s favor. Arsenal’s first chance came from a corner in the fifth minute of the second half. The players in front of the goal missed the ball and it fell to White. White attempted a turnover, but in the process, the ball hit Romero’s hand. The Arsenal players protested in unison.
The referee then communicated with the VAR room. The referee conducted an on-field review. The result was a penalty kick. It was one bad luck after another for Romero. Saka stepped up to take the kick. After fooling Vicario to perfection, Xhaka struck the ball into the center to give Arsenal the lead again. Xhaka spurred Tottenham on, this time by performing a Maddison dart for the cameras.
Arsenal’s celebration lasted less than a minute. In the 10th minute of the second half, Jorginho won the ball in the center of the box and Madsen pressed. Arsenal’s defensive shape was broken and they couldn’t react. Madsen played a pass to an onrushing Son Heung-min. Heung-min slotted the ball past Raya as the keeper came out. The only sound at the Emirates Stadium was the roar of the Tottenham fans.
Heung-min once again sent the fans into a frenzy, this time celebrating in front of the Tottenham fans, who cheered him on.
Arsenal immediately tightened their defense around Son. In the 12th minute of the second half, Son came down the middle and received the ball.