Gabriel’s header gives Arsenal narrow derby win against Tottenham

Sign up for Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox for free

Sign up for Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter

Sign up for Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter

Gabriel’s second-half header was enough for a weakened Arsenal to win 1-0 at Tottenham and keep the pressure on Manchester City in their bid for the Premier League title.

With an away game at City in seven days’ time, Arsenal’s clash with their rivals was already being described as a defining fixture in their title challenge, following a home draw with Brighton before the international break.

But without key duo Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, the Gunners took all three points thanks to Gabriel’s 64th-minute goal to secure their title and have only one win ahead of Spurs so far this season.

Odegaard and Rice were absent from Arsenal’s midfield, with the former sidelined with an ankle injury and the latter suspended following his red card against Brighton. Jorginho took over from Rice, as Leandro Trossard was tasked with filling Odegaard’s role as the team’s conductor.

At Tottenham, Micky van de Ven was back from injury, while summer signing Dominic Solanke led the attack after missing two games with an ankle injury.

The former Bournemouth man was immediately involved in the action when he broke free in the Arsenal penalty area and found Son Heung-min, his cut back to Dejan Kulusevski drawing a superb save from David Raya.

At the other end of the pitch, Kulusevski’s cross broke through the Arsenal defence, prompting Raya to spring into action again.

Spurs were on the rise and Ben White – who, along with his Arsenal team-mates, had dressed in black when the Gunners played out of their traditional red for the first time in almost forty years due to a kit dispute – was spared the embarrassment after fifteen minutes.

White was attacked by Son who found Solanke in the penalty area, but the England international was not quick enough to the break. William Saliba did not need a second invitation to dispossess him, while Solanke should have done better.

Saliba later found his name in referee Jarred Gillett’s book for failing to return the ball after a foul on Solanke, the first of seven yellow cards in a hotly contested first period.

The hosts were quickest out of their attack but as the half wore on Arsenal came into the game, Kai Havertz’s header from Gabriel Martinelli’s cross being well saved by Guglielmo Vicario before the Brazilian should have put the Gunners ahead.

Trossard’s superb through ball set Martinelli up one-on-one with Vicario, but the winger’s effort was tame and his weak effort was easily swallowed up by the Spurs keeper. Cue a furious Mikel Arteta on the touchline.

Jurrien Timber’s foul on Pedro Porro then led to a touchline brawl with both the Arsenal defender and Vicario in front. Both men were shown yellow cards, but Timber escaped a red card for going over the ball after a VAR check. Honourable mention, even at half-time.

The hour had arrived with a header from Van de Ven, straight into Raya’s throat after a cross from James Maddison. It was the only real chance of the second half until then.

Arsenal looked threatening on the counter-attack with Martinelli and Havertz working together to let Bukayo Saka through, his shot was turned past Porro and the resulting corner provided the breakthrough.

Gabriel ignored Cristian Romero and with Vicario blocked, the Brazilian headed in unmarked from a handful of yards. It was Arsenal’s 23rd goal from set pieces since the start of last season – more than any other club in the league.

Despite all their encouraging work, Spurs seemed bewildered by Gabriel’s goal and the frustration among the majority of the home fans was beginning to show.

But Spurs were masters of scoring late goals in front of their own fans during the Ange Postecoglou era. They wanted a penalty with eight minutes remaining when Gabriel stole the ball from Solanke, but Gillett waved away their appeals.

Pape Sarr then fired wide and Arteta’s team, with Raheem Sterling making his debut as a substitute, settled for the pressure.

Kulusevski came closest to equalising, but his long-range shot struggled over the bar. Arsenal reached five minutes of injury time and won three derbies in a row at Tottenham for the first time since 1988.