Premier League: Tottenham beat Arsenal 2-0 to top table
A crowd of 2,000 Tottenham fans enjoyed their return for the first time in nine months as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min combined again to beat Arsenal 2-0 and move back top of the Premier League on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho’s men moved two points clear of Chelsea at the summit with another statement performance to display their credentials to win a first league title in 60 years.
Kane and Son have now scored a combined 27 goals in all competitions this season and also turned provider for each other to catch Arsenal cold on the counter-attack.
At the other end of the table, a fifth defeat in seven league games for the Gunners leaves Mikel Arteta’s men languishing in 15th.
Arsenal also lost £45 million ($59 million) midfielder Thomas Partey to the recurrence of a thigh injury, which played its part in Son teeing up Kane for Spurs’ second goal just before the break.
Tottenham are now unbeaten in 10 league games and look prime contenders to make the most in a dip in the standards set by an injury-hit Liverpool and Manchester City in recent seasons should they keep Kane and Son fit.
The South Korean opened the scoring in stunning fashion as he collected Kane’s pass down the left and cut inside to curl into the top corner.
That was the 10th of Son’s 13 goals this season for which Kane provided the assist.
By contrast, Arsenal have scored just 10 goals in 11 league games all season and despite plenty of intricate build-up play, Arteta’s men again failed to provide any cutting edge in the final third.
The difference between the teams was summed up in first-half stoppage time as from what appeared a dangerous Arsenal attack, one long ball saw Spurs breaking with four against two as Partey had already pulled up with an injury.
Son took his time before feeding Kane, who smashed in off the underside of the bar from a narrow angle to double Tottenham’s lead and realistically end any doubt over the outcome given Arsenal’s struggles in front of goal.
– Toothless Arsenal –
Alexandre Lacazette finally forced Hugo Lloris into a save with a flicked header from Bukayo Saka’s free-kick early in the second-half.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still to score a Premier League goal from open play since signing a lucrative new contract worth a reported £55 million ($73 million) over three years in September.
The closest the Arsenal captain came to breaking his drought was a header from Kieran Tierney’s excellent cross that Aubameyang headed over.
Lloris denied Lacazette again low to his right as Arsenal camped themselves in the Spurs half for the second period without any reward.
The visitors enjoyed 68 percent possession and had more shots on goal, but did not have the class in front of goal shown by Kane and Son to make the difference.
Mourinho has even had the luxury of leaving Gareth Bale on the bench for most of his side’s rise into title contention and the Welshman was again an unused substitute despite the pleas of some fans for him to be introduced.
But the Spurs support went home more than satisfied as they won consecutive league games against Arsenal for the first time in a decade.
