Last night, Tottenham embarrassed Arsenal in the north London derby, as they romped to a 3-0 win in the crucial Premier League clash in N17.
Two first-half goals from Harry Kane, and a second-half strike from Heung-min Son, saw Spurs take all three points at the expense of the Gunners.
It was a highly entertaining game, and Gary Neville believes he spotted the moment which caused Arsenal’s collapse.
What’s the story?
Well, speaking on Sky Sports, the 47-year-old said he thinks the atmosphere after Kane’s first goal caused Arsenal to crumble.
Neville said: “After 1-0, this crowd were all over the place – it was mayhem after the first goal. At that point, Arsenal did wilt. They capitulated in that part of the game.”
It is often said that supporters can act as the 12th man in football, and that was especially evident last night as the Spurs fans sung their hearts out.
It was obvious how disturbed the Arsenal players looked out on the pitch, although we believe it wasn’t just the atmosphere which rocked the Gunners.
Arsenal lost Tottenham clash in 33rd minute
In our view, Mikel Arteta lost the north London derby for Arsenal by not bringing on another central defender when Rob Holding was dismissed in the 33rd minute.
The Spaniard didn’t introduce another defender until the 76th minute, when Gabriel Magalhães suffered an injury and was replaced by Nuno Tavares.
Four minutes after Holding’s 33rd minute dismissal, Kane scored his second goal, before Son added another ten minutes later.
It was a crucial period for Arsenal, in which they just needed to get into the dressing room and regroup at 1-0, where they could then assess the situation.
Sadly, Arteta failed to act at a crucial time, and in our view, it was his hesitance – not just Tottenham’s atmosphere – which caused Arsenal to collapse.
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