Mikel Arteta’s side earned the 3-2 victory against bitter North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday thanks to a combination of hard effort, quality, and a little luck, but it was enough to keep Manchester City honest in the Premier League title race.
The Gunners are determined to prevent a recurrence of last season when they ran out of steam in the dying weeks of the season.
A cavalier team that was eager to take on anyone, anywhere, at any time, lacked the adaptability to deal with the strain of playing when the goal was in sight.
Arteta claimed in the lead-up to this game that he sought advice from former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger on how to negotiate the “later stages” of a title battle. It may not be enough City will finish first for the fifth time in six seasons if they win their remaining games but Arsenal has shown that they can handle these situations with the necessary skill set, which bodes well for the future.
After compromising his ideals to deploy a safety-first, defensive game plan to secure a 0-0 draw against City last month, Arteta spoke about the need to “leave your ego and your ideology aside and do what you have to do to win the game” to succeed in major matches.
Arsenal were similarly restrained here, though Arteta claimed it was due to Tottenham’s front-foot approach rather than a predetermined strategy. “They forced us,” Arteta explained. “We had an issue with the high press.”
But Arsenal made it work. The Gunners took a 3-0 lead thanks to Pierre-Emile Højbjerg’s 15th-minute own goal, Bukayo Saka’s counter-attacking score, and a Kai Havertz header seven minutes before the break.
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