Arsenal came out on top in a fiery north London derby as Gabriel's second-half header gave them a crucial victory at Tottenham. The Gunners were without captain Martin Odegaard and key midfielder Declan Rice through injury and suspension respectively and survived a stern examination from Ange Postecoglou's side to spark ecstatic scenes at the final whistle.

Arsenal keeper David Raya excelled in the early stages to keep Spurs at bay with fine saves from Dejan Kulusevski while Spurs opposite number Guglielmo Vicario had to be at his best to keep out Kai Havertz's header.

Tempers boiled over late in the first half as players from both sides clashed following Jurien Timber's challenge on Pedro Porro, setting the stage for a tense second period.

And it was Gabriel who made the vital contribution after 64 minutes, escaping the attentions of Cristian Romero to rise and power Bukako Saka's corner high past Vicario.

Arsenal always relish any derby victory at Spurs but this one will taste especially sweet as it was achieved without two such significant figures in Odegaard and Rice while providing the perfect platform for next weekend's visit to champions Manchester City.

Arsenal’s Defensive Organization

Defending against Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur in a low-block isn’t the easiest of tasks. The wide combinations between the winger, full-back and No 8 makes it a tedious task, and the dynamism of their movement and rotations only makes it harder.

In the first half, Arsenal’s defensive organisation limited that threat. Defending out of a 4-4-2, one of Arsenal’s wingers would drop to form a situational back five towards the side where Tottenham were trying to attack, while the other tucked in next to the double pivot to minimise the space.

Meanwhile, William Saliba and Gabriel were alert to switch markers with Arsenal’s double pivot when Dominic Solanke dropped deeper and Tottenham were searching for runners in behind the defence. In addition, Partey and Jorginho dropped to fill in the gaps in the defensive line.

In the second half it was expected that Tottenham would increase the pressure, especially after Gabriel put Arsenal in the lead, but more blocks and Raya being in position to save more shots earned Arsenal a deserved victory.

Jurrien Timber's Fiery Performance

There is always going to be tension when these teams meet and Jurrien Timber always seemed to be at the heart of it on Sunday.

In the first 15 minutes he had a flare-up with Brennan Johnson which ended with them both in a heap on the floor but that was nothing compared to what happened just after the half an hour mark.

The Netherlands international tackled Dejan Kulusevski while he was on the floor and then won the loose ball from Pedro Porro. Tottenham’s right-back went down in pain but Timber carried on, burst into the box and won a corner.

Guglielmo Vicario then rushed over to Timber and squared up with him. Despite Vicario’s size advantage, Timber did not back down and grabbed the goalkeeper by the scruff of his shirt. Everybody from both teams then rushed over to try to defuse the situation which ended with Vicario and Timber being booked.

As usual, the north London derby delivered on drama.

Tottenham's Set-Piece Woes

Tottenham’s old failings returned to haunt them as they squandered the opportunity to put a marker down in front of their own supporters against depleted Arsenal.

They were reflected in the goal as Spurs once again failed to defend a set-piece, a constant Achilles heel in the Ange Postecoglou era.

Last season, excluding penalties, Spurs conceded 16 goals from set-pieces out of 54 conceded. Including penalties it was 23 from 61.

Postecoglou appeared unconcerned by this obvious weakness but another crucial goal leading to a defeat from a routine corner poorly defended should focus the manager's mind, with three of Arsenal's last four goals against Spurs coming from set plays.

Romero’s Defensive Deficiencies

Romero is the type of centre-back who catches the eye. He is aggressive. He is committed. He gets the crowd going. He puts in crunching tackles. He runs through brick walls even if the brick wall isn’t actually in his way.

But he’s also not a particularly good defender. The Argentine is a World Cup winner, granted — but it’s worth remembering that so was Leeds United flop Roque Junior.

So far in 2024-25 Romero been both outwitted and then (more embarrassingly) wound up by Leicester’s Jamie Vardy in a game Tottenham clearly should have won, but drew 1-1. In the 2-1 loss at Newcastle, he was partly responsible for both the first and second goals.

Here, his defending against Gabriel, always Arsenal’s main threat at set-pieces, was hopeless — he was the wrong side, got outmuscled and seemed to be aware of neither man nor ball.

The Vital Win for Arsenal

With Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Declan Rice unavailable, Spurs had a great opportunity to beat Arsenal for the first time since May 2022.

There were some encouraging signs in the first half, but Spurs lost their momentum midway through the opening 45 and never truly looked like reclaiming it.

This was a better performance compared to the last time these two teams met when Arsenal were leading 3-0 at half-time. It will sting that Arsenal scored from another set-piece but that was more down to Cristian Romero switching off than any structural failure.

You can see that Tottenham have improved under Postecoglou but this leaves them with four points from as many games. They have lost to Newcastle and Arsenal, two teams they want to compete with towards the top of the table and for Champions League qualification.

This felt like another harsh lesson that hopefully Postecoglou’s young side will learn from.

Travelling to take on Manchester City next Sunday already four points behind would have placed a huge amount of pressure on them to avoid defeat. They know all too well that seven points is a mile back when chasing Pep Guardiola’s team.

That’s why this victory, with their entire first-choice midfield missing and the stakes already ratcheting up, was so vital.

It keeps Arsenal within touching distance and kickstarts their season after the disappointment of the 1-1 draw against Brighton before the international break.

The resilience they showed when soaking up Tottenham pressure, the work rate that both wingers put in to their defensive responsibilities and the adaptability Jorginho and Partey showed to make up for their ageing legs are intangibles that will add belief to this team.