Arsenal rose to the occasion to put Tottenham to the sword in the north London derby and two of their most influential stars were once again singled out for special praise
Gabriel and William Saliba have been lauded again after starring in Arsenal’s huge victory over Tottenham in the north London derby.
The Gunners headed into Wednesday night’s match knowing that they could cut the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points with a win, while a defeat would have given Arne Slot’s men a massive chance to extend their lead given they have now played a game less than the Londoners.
But Arsenal showed tremendous character to record a deserved 2-1 victory at The Emirates after cancelling out Son Heung-min’s opener with two quickfire goals.
It was Gabriel whose header deflected in off the unfortunate Dominic Solanke to restore parity for Arsenal before Leandro Trossard plundered their winner just minutes later. But the Brazilian and his defensive partner were the two stars singled out by Pat Nevin.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, the pundit said: “Sometimes you have to be good defensively and take the sneaky chance when it comes.
“When Spurs were breaking they never looked like getting by those two [Gabriel and Saliba] – those two were magnificent. It was a masterclass from Gabriel and Saliba.”
While Gabriel and Saliba have earned plenty of praise this season following a string of imperious displays, Arsenal have struggled for goals recently following the loss of Bukayo Saka to injury. Gabriel Jesus is also now sidelined, too, after rupturing his ACL at the weekend.
Arsenal looked a real threat against their arch-rivals, though, with Son’s opening strike coming very much against the run of play. And Speaking post-match, Declan Rice brought up how Arsenal could – and perhaps should – have added some gloss to the result in the second half.
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The England midfielder told TNT Sports: “You can tell that tonight meant more than anything. From the first minute, the first half was pure domination. We showed the intent, the pressure, the desire, you could tell it was a derby. I think we were probably unlucky that we didn’t score 10 tonight. That’s the feeling.
“You don’t need a message. When you play Spurs you know what it means to the fans. As a player if you can’t get up for Spurs then you shouldn’t be playing football. You need to have that fire in your belly.
“In the second half the game got stretched. They maybe could have scored a couple but we could have got another five or six – that is the disappointing thing.
“The three points is the most important thing. Hopefully now we can go on a run because this is the most important part of the season.”
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