Another North London derby has been and gone, with plenty of drama playing out between old foes Tottenham and Arsenal in Sunday afternoon’s meeting.
Spurs had a nightmare start to the game as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg headed the ball into the back of his own net from a defensive corner.
A quick turnover saw Bukayo Saka double Arsenal’s lead before Kai Havertz added a third from another corner.
With boos ringing around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at half-time, the advantage was firmly in the Gunners’ hands.
That was until the visitors almost pressed the self-destruct button, with Cristian Romero pulling a goal back through a David Raya error.
Heung-Min Son then added a second, scoring from the penalty spot and fuelling a belief that Tottenham could earn a historic comeback.
It wasn’t to be though, as Ange Postecoglou suffered his first defeat in a North London derby as Spurs boss.
Ian Wright on Tottenham corners
While Tottenham fought back against Arsenal, there were still some glaring mistakes that the Lilywhites will have to learn from.
One key area to address appears to be the side’s frailties at set-pieces, particularly corners.
Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario struggled to claim crosses put into the box by the Gunners, with the visitors paying close attention to him.
The Italian shot-stopper was targeted by Ben White, with none of the Spurs players ushering him out of the way.
It was an issue that Arsenal legend Ian Wright addressed on the latest episode of his podcast, Wrighty’s House.
“What happened was, I was thinking to myself that everybody should have seen that Ben White goes on your goalkeeper and he is going to [move] around with him,” the former striker said.
“For Tottenham to get to a situation where we get to score two goals, with no-one marking him on the goalkeeper, is poor.
“They brought [Pape Matar] Sarr on and he was marking Ben White in and around there, that’s a big mistake, that’s a massive mistake. We scored two goals on the back of their goalkeeper.”
Tottenham set-piece stats
Tottenham clearly have an issue when it comes to set-pieces, having conceded 14 goals from them across all competitions this season.
Ange Postecoglou doesn’t put great emphasis on the impact of set-plays, however it is a fine margin that could cost Spurs their Champions League qualification.
In this instance, two corners have left the side unstuck against their nearest rivals Arsenal, with a result just out of reach.
While the chances of scoring or conceding from a corner or free-kick remain low, the Premier League is as competitive as it ever has been and those small percentages are having a last impact across the division.
