Arsenal battered Tottenham on Sunday at the Emirates to finish the weekend above their north London rivals, so how did each Arsenal player rate?
It was only a few league games ago that Tottenham sat on top of the table and Arsenal were rooted to the bottom with no points and no goals after three games.
A lot can change in football over the course of a week or two:
By the end of the first half, most Arsenal fans and pundits were in shock.
It was like watching two years of secret development being unleashed at 4.30pm on Sunday as Arsenal set about tearing Tottenham apart at will.
The goals and the energy of the team sung of Arsene Wenger’s teams in their pomp, resulting in an unimaginable three-nil lead at the break.
In fact, it was 3-0 and game won after just 34 minutes.
Looking at just the stats, there was little to explain this gulf.
Arsenal had played just seven passes in the opposition half more than Spurs and their pass success was just 3% better. Stat for stat, they were pretty level – apart from the shots on target (4 v 1) and goals on the board.
But you didn’t need stats. Your eyes told you where the real difference lay – Arsenal wanted it more and played like a team determined to make as big a point as they could manage.
Spurs offered more in the second half but some great saves from Aaron Ramsdale and wayward finishing from Harry Kane meant that buy 65 minutes, Arsenal fans were oleing and they had little reason to stop.
Arsenal had no need to take any crazy chances in the second half, thus perhaps giving the impression that Spurs were able to climb out of Arsenal’s pockets in any meaningful sense.
They managed it for a minute, with just over 10 to go. Going down under an Arsenal challenge, Lucas Moura fell into Granit Xhaka, twisting the midfielder’s knee awkwardly.
As he lay on the pitch, Spurs sprung forward found a way through the Arsenal defence to pull one back.
They rushed to get the ball from the net, but Xhaka was still on the pitch, his injury and subsequent treatment taking the sting out of the impetuous Spurs would certainly have wanted to build on.
The absence of fear as a watching Arsenal fan, having seen Mikel Arteta’s men crush Tottenham’s will so totally in the first half, was a novel experience to say the least.
Arsenal player ratings – full-time (ht)
Arsenal 3 vs 1 Tottenham Hotspur
- Aaron Ramsdale (6.7) 7.4
- Takehiro Tomiyasu (6.6) 7.3
- Ben White (6.8) 6.9
- Gabriel (6.9) 6.8
- Kieran Tierney (7.3) 7.3
- Thomas Partey (7.1) 7.4
- Granit Xhaka (6.8) 7.0
- Bukayo Saka (8.7) 8.6 (G,A)
- Martin Odegaard (6.4) 6.6
- Emile Smith Rowe (8.1) 8.5 (G,A)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (7.6) 8.0 (G)
Arsenal Subs:
- Albert Sambi Lokonga (for Granit Xhaka)
- Ainsley Maitland-Niles (for Bukayo Saka)
- Nuno Tavares (for Emile Smith Rowe)
Ratings via Fotmob