Although failing to prevent Manchester City from defending the league title for two consecutive seasons, Mikel Arteta's successful revamp of the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium has pleased the management and fans, and in addition to winning three points against local rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the end of last season, that victory was also a milestone for the boss to win 100 games at Arsenal.
The boss beat Tottenham to reach the milestone of 100 Premier League victories in charge
Almost 20 years before the 35th round of the game against Tottenham, 25 April 2004 is a day that all gun fans will never forget, that day was the last time the north London giants won the Premier League, with goals from two France internationals, Pire and Vieira, the Gunners drew 2-2 away to their bitter rivals and won the league title that season with an unbeaten record (26 wins, 12 draws);
After 20 years, the Gunners, who fell short in the previous season, have made a comeback this year, and after entering 24 years, they have been firmly in the first place in the league in terms of points, goals, clean sheets, etc., Arsenal, which has not repeated the mistakes of repeatedly dropping the chain in April, following the 29 rounds of supplementary matches after sweeping Chelsea, the former London derby by 5 goals, the 35th round of Arsenal continues to usher in a London derby-north London derby, coincidentally, their opponent Tottenham Hotspur will play against three title contenders in the sprint stage of the league.
Before the game, the club's official website compiled some important statistics about the game against Tottenham, as follows:
Tottenham have won just one of their last six league games against Arsenal, with a record of one win, one draw and four defeats; Tottenham, on the other hand, have lost just four of their previous 16 league games against Arsenal;
Tottenham have conceded 49 goals in the league this season and have a chance to concede 50+ goals in two consecutive seasons for the first time since 2015;
Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur had drawn the most in the Premier League at the end of the 2015/16 season, drawing 20 of their first 48 league meetings (42 per cent) and having drawn just four of their 15 league meetings since then;
Arsenal have kept clean sheets in their last six Premier League away games, with only two teams in history keeping a clean sheet in seven consecutive league away games (Chelsea and Manchester United in 2008-09), but Arsenal have never tried to keep two consecutive league clean sheets away from Tottenham, and Tottenham goalkeeper Vicario has the opportunity to become only the second goalkeeper to concede 50 goals in his first season in the Premier League after Neil Sullivan in 2000/01 (51 goals);
In the history of the Premier League, the team that has conceded the most points against Arsenal is Tottenham (45 points);
Son Heung-min has scored 24 goals in the last 26 Premier League games, and during his time at Tottenham, Tottenham scored a total of 12 goals against Arsenal, of which Son Heung-min contributed 6 goals and 2 assists;
Brennan · Johnson has scored nine times in the last 15 Premier League games (four goals and five assists), five of which have come as a substitute;
Saka has the chance to become the first Arsenal player since Alexandre Lacazette in 2019/20 to score home and away against Tottenham in a single league season; He also has the opportunity to become the first player to do so since Ian Wright in 1993-94;
Odegaard has been involved in six goals (three goals, three assists) in his last six Premier League away games.
Arsenal, who continued the big win over the Blues' starting 11, also showed a similar strong start to the game at the beginning of the game, but compared with the previous half-time 1:0, Arsenal's ability to grasp the efficiency in the north London derby is better, and the right side of Saka's front field is still the biggest threat to the team's attack, and Havertz, who has been in better form recently, is also getting better in the center forward position, with his role as a bridgehead in the No. 9 position, Arsenal's attack is also more three-dimensional;
Although in the 14th minute because Odegaard was offside, Havertz's shot was saved could not be counted as a valid statistic, but judging from the German's handling after receiving the ball, he quickly got into the groove in terms of goal, and one minute later, the Gunners, who had made great progress from set-pieces this season, broke the deadlock with their best corner, and Saka's corner from the right caused Hojbjerg to own an own goal;
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the usual blocking and dismantling and sending special personnel to interfere with the opponent's goalkeeper, this · White also tried to take off the gloves of Tottenham goalkeeper Vicario many times in this corner kick attack, and this scene was also captured many times by the live broadcast camera.
Tottenham, who were behind at home, were not going to rest on their laurels' laurels, and before the Gunners scored their second goal, they almost completed their goal of a quick equaliser, but the header of the two centre-backs Sergio Romero missed the target and Van der Ven's goal was ruled out for offside.
In the 26th minute, after resisting Tottenham's repeated bombardments close to goal, Arsenal successfully connected with Saka through Havertz in a quick counterattack from defense to attack, and successfully extended the lead of the score;
Throughout the goalscoring process, Odegaard's low defense gave the Gunners the first point of the ball, the Norway was combed under the high pressure of the home team's front, giving Saka a sudden opening up in front of his eyes, the England winger handed the ball to Havertz, he ran out of space on the right, the German's accurate long pass took full advantage of Saka's speed, the latter after a long run of more than 80 meters, can still calm past the opponent, with the best left foot around the far corner, this series of seconds to the bumpy pass and run, The result was a textbook counter-attacking goal.
In the 0:2 situation, Tottenham's attack still adheres to their self-dominated tactics after the opening, but similar to the 0:3 defeat to Fulham, Son Heung-min in the center forward position is difficult to play the tactical value that a player in the No. 9 position should have, and he can only be a threat to the Arsenal goal on the periphery and in the inverted triangle area with Kulu and Johnson, who replaced the injured Werner, as for the most dangerous middle of the penalty area, considering Salibagab, the most solid central defender in the Premier League, Tottenham barely took advantage of anything there;
Before half-time, Arsenal doubled the lead again with set-piece opportunities, this time replacing Kai Havertz for the team, and the German's goal in the 38th minute proved once again how important a good set-piece coach is to a team that wants to win the title, statistically for the first time in Arsenal's history, they took a 3-0 lead in the first half of the Premier League away north London derby.
After the rematch in the second half, Tottenham's most important adjustment, in addition to replacing Bentancur with Sarr, was to let central defender Romero boldly step forward to assist when the team was attacking with the ball, and this key adjustment also laid the groundwork for the next 45 minutes of the game;
In the 60th minute of the game, seeing that the first goal was not scored, Tottenham made another substitution adjustment, Richarlison Bissouma led the game, Tottenham with a positive center forward received results after 3 minutes, after replacing a number of physical substitutes, after the intensity of the front field pressing up a notch, Arsenal goalkeeper Raya messed up in the 63rd minute, his ball gave Romero who formed a center forward with Richarlison, and the Argentina central defender easily pulled a goal back for Tottenham, according to statistics, Raya's mistake ended his 604-minute clean sheet on the Premier League away from home, after he had kept six consecutive Premier League away sheets.
In the next 15 minutes, the two teams frequently fouled on physical contact, and Tottenham, who were behind in 5 minutes, were yellow carded by Davies and Culu in the ·, and in the 83rd minute, in a defense near the penalty line, Rice's kick clearance kicked · Davies, and the referee Oliver awarded Arsenal's foul after viewing the video replay, and Tottenham Hotspur rewrote the score to 2:3 by Son Heung-min from the penalty;
From 3:0 to 3:2, the boss on the sidelines would not allow the three points to be turned into one point, and in the 89th minute he replaced Odegaard with another defender, Kiwiol, determined to hold on to the victory, while the Gunners almost scored the fourth goal from a corner kick in the 90th minute, and finally Tottenham had to accept the bitter fruit of being beaten at home by their rivals for two consecutive seasons after 36 years.
Arsenal defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3:2 away, the last time they won away to Tottenham in the league was back in 1988, they first won 2-1 away in the 12th round of League One in 1987/88, and then won 3:2 away in the third round of League One in 1988/89, the result of this game also means that Tottenham has not tasted victory in the last 4 north London derbies 1 draw and 3 losses, in addition to facing Arsenal in the last 8 times in the Premier League, Tottenham has only won 2 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses, In comparison, Tottenham Hotspur has a much better record against another title contender, Manchester City, and in the last 8 meetings with Pep Guardiola's team in the Premier League, Tottenham has a clear advantage of 5 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses;
Tottenham, who trailed their arch-rivals by three goals at half-time, have conceded 52 goals in the Premier League this season, making them the 16th team to concede more than 50 goals in the Premier League this season, and the last time so many teams conceded more than 50 goals in the 20-team English top flight was in the distant 1909/10 season, when 17 teams conceded more than 50 goals by the end of the season.
Hojbjerg's own goal in this game, in fact, is not uncommon in the north London derby in recent years, in fact, they have scored own goals in the last three north London derby, just in the first leg of the north London derby this season, central defender Romero has opened the scoring for Arsenal, and Lloris also broke the deadlock on the field with an own goal in the 20th round of the Premier League last season;
According to statistics, in the history of the Premier League, the north London derby 5 own goals were scored by Tottenham players, this campaign at home against Arsenal, in the 15th minute of the game, Tottenham midfielder Hojbjerg in a set-piece defense accidentally put himself in the own goal, the ball into their own door, coincidentally, the other 4 north London own goals, Tottenham Hotspur is to help Arsenal complete the first goal to break the deadlock, the players who scored these 5 own goals were Armstrong in March 2000, Wimmer in November 2016, Lloris in January 2023, Romero in September 2023 and Hojbjerg this time;
Counting Havertz's corner kick in this game, Arsenal has scored 16 goals through corner kicks in the Premier League this season, and the data shows that the Gunners have become the team that has scored the most goals through corner kicks in a single season since West Brom coached by Pulis in the 2016-17 season under Pulis (also 16 goals), and in the team's first goal, in the process of creating a Hojbjerg own goal, a number of Gunners players, including Ben · White, have "performed their duties" in the penalty area and qualified the task assigned by set-piece coach Joe For before the game.
In addition to set-pieces, Saka, who scored a goal on the counter-attack, has scored 20 goals against the traditional last-six ties, and since his debut, only Salah and Kevin De Bruyne have been directly involved in more goals than him, the 22-year-old has made 45 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions so far this season, 44 of them starts, scoring 19 goals and providing 14 assists, scoring in both legs of the north London derby, the last English player to do so for Arsenal was in 1993/ Ian · Wright in '94, Saka's tally of goals in the Premier League this season has reached 15, and the last homegrown player to do so for Arsenal was Ian ·Wright in 1996/97;
Havertz won the title of Man of the Match after the game, according to statistics, in Havertz's last 14 games in all competitions, Arsenal won all the final victories, and when he was still playing for Chelsea, against Tottenham Hotspur in 4 games Germany 0 goals and 0 assists, after joining Arsenal this season, against Tottenham Havertz 2 games 1 goal and 1 assist, after the win he was in a good mood he wrote on social media, "London is red! ”
Havertz, who started the game and played the whole game, contributed one goal and one assist, and also contributed eight successful aerial duels and two key passes, so far this season, the Germany midfielder has completed four passes in the Premier League, the first Arsenal player since Sanchez to achieve four passes in a single season in the Premier League, and Sanchez in the 2016-2017 season also completed four passes in a single season in the Premier League.
The victory also brought a new milestone moment for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who won his 100th Premier League game in charge, with 100 wins, 27 draws and 42 defeats since taking over at the end of 2019.
Arteta has the fifth-lowest total number of games played by managers who have won 100 games in Premier League history, and the number of games played by Premier League 100 winners is ranked as follows:
Pep Guardiola 134 games
Jose Mourinho 143 games
Jurgen Klopp 159 games
Sir Alex Ferguson 162 games
Arteta 169 games
Arsene Wenger 179 games
After the game, Arsenal's official website listed the 100 wins of the team's manager:
- Arteta's Premier League coaching results (all in charge of Arsenal): 169 games, 100 wins, 27 draws, 42 losses, a winning rate of 59%;
- The 25th manager to achieve a 100 Premier League victory, the 5th fastest manager to achieve this achievement, and the legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to achieve a 100 Premier League victory on the same day (28 April), 10 fewer games than Arsene Wenger, 23 years apart;
- Fastest Premier League 100 wins coach (Arteta 5th):
Pep Guardiola: 134 games (29/12/2019)
Jose Mourinho: 142 games (19/01/2014)
Jurgen Klopp: 159 games (4/12/2019)
Alex Ferguson: 162 games (17 April 1996)
Mikel Arteta: 169 games (28 April 2024)
Arsene Wenger: 179 games (28 April 2001)
- Mikel Arteta is the youngest Premier League 100-win coach (42 years, 33 days):
No. 2: David Moyes (45 years, 190 days)
3rd: Pochettino (46 years 1 day)
No. 4: Eddie Howe (46 years 94 days)
5th: David O'Reilly (46 years, 307 days)
No. 6: Rogers (47 years, 238 days)
- Arteta Premier League 100 wins season distribution:
19-20 season: 9 wins
20-21 season: 18 wins
21-22 season: 22 wins
22-23 season: 26 wins
23-24 season: 25 wins
- The most common winning scores under Mikel Arteta:
2-0, 1-0: 16 occurrences each
- Arteta's biggest win in the Premier League as manager:
6-0: Beat Sheffield United and West Ham this season
- Most Premier League wins during his tenure: Wolves (7)
6: Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham
5 times: Brighton, Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Leicester City, Manchester United, Tottenham
The youngest manager to win 100 Premier League games is one step away from winning his first league title
Kulusevski admits that Tottenham are not mature enough to be disciplined compared to Arsenal, 'They are more disciplined and a little bit more mature than us, which is what we are missing at the moment, they are able to score from corners and we concede goals, and people can see that their second goal was too easy, Havertz passed to Saka and it was 2-0, we have to improve on that, but we also have to take responsibility, we have to win games, we have to improve. If we can't do that, then of course people will be disappointed and we have to grow because as a team we can't concede goals easily and we have to improve in that area; ”
'Sometimes I don't really understand the rules in this situation, I can't believe it, I was there and the ball touched two Arsenal players and it was still ruled offside, I don't know, maybe I don't understand the rules. It's so weird, it changed the score from 1:1 to 1:0 and we obviously scored, of course, from the first day they introduced video assistant referees, I wasn't a fan of it, I can't decide on their selection, I don't think it's a fun thing for anyone. ”
Speaking after the game, Van der Ven revealed what Postecoglou said to his players at half-time and his thoughts on the game, "The first half wasn't good enough, Arsenal dropped back deep, but on the counter-attack they were dangerous and they converted almost every chance into a goal, I think we lacked that in the first half, what the manager said at half-time was to keep playing the way we did, Arsenal dropped back to defend, our chances would come, we'll see what happens; ”
'In the second half you have to keep working hard and run as much as you can, if you can't run then go down, we have to run, we have to work hard and do it in the second half, I think that's what we did, we didn't play well in the first half, in a big game like this and we were 3-0 down at half-time, it can't happen on your own home turf, I think in the second half we played really well, we pressed high, we controlled the game, but the end result wasn't enough;"
"[The goal was cancelled] if it was offside, it was offside, we almost equalised, if it was 1:1 then it would have been a different game, the video assistant referee said it was offside, I think if it was offside, then it should have been ruled offside, and then two minutes later they scored another goal and it was 2:0, and before half-time, they rewrote the score to 3:0, which was undoubtedly a resounding slap in the face;"
'The two goals conceded from set-pieces are of course frustrating, we have to train hard, we have to work hard this week, I don't think in football we are worse than Arsenal, I wouldn't say we have this problem, Arsenal have a strong mentality but I wouldn't say ours are bad, look at their goals, they were decisive and took every opportunity and I think it makes a difference, of course, if you want to be a top team you can't concede three goals in the first half, indeed, if you want to be a top team, You can't concede three goals at home and we have to work on that. ”
Son Heung-min believes that in the final moments of the game, the team still had a chance to equalize the score, "We could have pulled one back when we were 2-3 down, I think we have a good chance, especially in a game like that, if you concede like that, it's very difficult and painful, their attack is sharp, the aerial confrontation is strong, we have a lot of chances, hit the post, and a goal is disallowed; As I said before, when you concede a ball like this, you have to be strong, like I said before, it's a big game, we have to show quality from set-pieces, obviously, they're good, but I think everybody has to step up and now we have to work on the set-pieces, stay strong and keep going.' ”
Tottenham boss Postecoglou said in an interview that the opening performance was unacceptable: "It's disappointing, from our point of view we made it too easy for them to get close to our goal, it took only three or four chances to score three goals in the first half, which is unacceptable and we paid the price for it, against a very strong team, we showed resilience and fought back, but we have to do it because there is no other option." We couldn't have failed to give the fans hope in the second half, we did, but the result was still very disappointing, we didn't have the resilience that we could have achieved, especially in the transition and from set-pieces, we made it too easy for the opposition to get close to our goal, they are a strong team and if you don't show a strong will to protect your goal they will punish you and we didn't do it today. ”
Saka, who scored his team's second goal, said the last three games had to be won with all their might, 'I'm happy, everything we did in the last 20 minutes was worth it, we were happy to leave here with the three points, it was a rollercoaster game, but I'm happy, when I got to the bench they told me it was offside, so I was calm and didn't worry about the video assistant referee check, and after that we managed to score a goal and then another goal and we were 3-0 up. We went into the break very easily, all the defenders were credited, they were very good all season, we all saw that, they were credited and today they showed it again, they were very solid; ”
'When the atmosphere was not in your favour and Tottenham started to put pressure on them, they were very calm. David [Raya] also made a mistake but he was very calm afterwards and thanks to him too, I'm proud of all the lads, as an Arsenal player it's good to score home and away against Tottenham, we love the game and it's good to score here – I'm happy, it's a relief and a sense of happiness, it's definitely nice to celebrate with the fans, we have three games to play so we need to keep winning. The next home game is Bournemouth and we'll do everything we can to focus on our game, win our game and see what we can achieve. ”
Raya, who made a big mistake in the game, also apologized to the whole team for his mistake, "I learned from my mistakes, if you don't make mistakes, you don't learn from them, it's part of football, everyone makes mistakes, but the problem is, when the goalkeeper makes a mistake, it's usually a goal, and the problems we have are easier to see and talked about more than when the striker misses a shot or whatever, but it's just part of football and we can learn from it, and that's the most important thing, You just have to learn from your mistakes. ”
Arteta, who was present at the post-match press conference, said the high intensity of fixtures throughout April had made the whole squad grow a lot, 'It's a north London derby, we played away at a beautiful stadium and the opponents were a very good team and you have to take the pain and that's part of the enjoyment, so hopefully we can now give our fans a good afternoon and give them a chance to be proud of the team, and when you come here you know you have to win every game. You've got to try to win the league, you've got to come to this place where your opponents are, you know what's going on with the other big teams here, you have to play well and win the game, and it feels like it's hard for us to make it difficult for ourselves, especially given the way the game started, the control we had to take 3-0 and the way we played in the second half; ”
"[Goalkeeper errors] it's part of the game and I like the reaction of the team, especially the players who make mistakes, because they showed real fighting spirit, Raya stepped up and did what he did best, and that's when you see the players perform – when the crisis comes up, that's courage, it's easy to talk about, but when something like this does happen, you have to do it on the pitch, I don't know if I have the courage to do what he did. So I want to give them a big shout-out, it's really good and it's a special day to celebrate, so, a big thank you to everyone at the club, to all the staff who work with us every day, and especially to our players, the physiotherapists, the masseurs and the nutritionists – everybody is involved in making our players go into every game in the best possible physical and mental condition, the competition in April was very demanding, except for Timber, we were all ready and they were in great shape, We need that state and we know how important it will be. ”
Write at the end
In order to better close the gap in squad strength with defending champion Manchester City, the Gunners completed the early purchase of goalkeeper Raya, who was on loan last year, and left-back Italy international defender Calafiori, is only one step away from the official announcement, according to the latest news from European legend Romano, Bologna and Arsenal have now begun to exchange transfer-related documents, and everything between Bologna and Basel on the second transfer share has also been arranged, Calafioli will sign a contract with Arsenal until June 2029 (with no option to renew) with an annual salary of around €4 million, and the Italy international will then travel directly to the United States to undergo a medical arranged by Arsenal and then join the full team.