Tottenham blow 10-man Arsenal away to pile on pressure in race for fourth spot

Tottenham (2) 3 Kane 22, 37, Son 47

Arsenal (0) 0

He always scores against Arsenal doesn’t he.

Harry Kane helped himself two first half goal taking his tally against the Gunners to 13 as Spurs brushed their north London rivals aside with ease - the visitors reduced to 10 men after 33 minutes.

In what was a far cry from the insipid display earlier in the season when they lost 3-1 at Emirates Stadium under Nuno Espirito Santo, this was an altogether more robust showing. Certainly, it had a better outcome for them.

It very much keeps alive their hopes of finishing fourth above Arsenal in that battle for a Champions League slot. The gap is down to a single point with two to play. But more than that, of course, it was all about re-asserting their pride.

The game felt all but over with the match barely half an hour old, as Rob Holding managed to get himself sent off for two fouls on Heung-Min Son, the second yellow the result of an elbow as the pair chased a long ball from Eric Dier.

So much for all the pre-match talk about Spurs missing Christian Romero to a hip injury. Of greater significance was that Ben White had not recovered sufficiently from his knock to start in the heart of that defence alongside Gabriel.

And with a man advantage, Spurs quickly added to the 22nd minute penalty Kane had already put away after Cedric Soares had barged into the back of Son following Dejan Kulusevski’s floated cross from the right.

Now 11 v 10, Son’s corner was swung out and headed forward by Rodrigo Bentancur at the near stick for Kane to stoop and nod in from a yard at the far post.

Eddie Nketiah did his best to get the Gunners back into it with a dipping effort from the left edge of the area, but Hugo Lloris stretched to tip over, and within a couple of minutes in the second half, Son had added a third.

Kane was halted by Gabriel inside the area but the ball ran loose to the South Korean who clipped home into the far corner.

There could have been further damage, as Emerson Royal sent a header down to Aaron Ramsdale’s right but the keeper made a fine save. He did the same to deflect a Kane swerver from distance. Son clipped a golden chance over with his left foot as he fell backwards to meet a cross from the left by Ryan Sessegnon.

The noisy home fans loved it. A first full house for the derby after the pandemic years, they lauded every tackle, brought out the "Ole's" during dominant spells and sang the praises of Antonio Conte – a man who knows how to get the best out of these players in big matches like this.

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, it was a miserable experience. They had the benefit of an extra man for an hour against Leeds at the weekend.

This time, they were the ones trying to chase with only 10 men for 60 minutes. The North London derby is not the moment to be attempting to do that.

They will travel to Newcastle on Monday knowing they probably have to win and will be without Holding and maybe Gabriel too – the defender limping off injured before the end. With White also not fully fit, it is going to be a tough for them now.

Spurs will expect to take six points from their final two games against Burnley and Norwich. The Gunners know the pressure has just been taken up to max.

Spurs: (3-4-2-1) Lloris – Sanchez, Dier, Davies (Rodon 82) – Emerson Royal, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, R Sessegnon – Kulusevski (Moura 72), Son (Bergwijn 72) – Kane. Subs not used: Gollini, Winks, White, Scarlett, Devine, Craig

Gunners: (4-2-3-1) Ramsdale – Cedric, Holding, Gabriel (Tavares 76), Tomiyasu – Elneny, Xhaka – Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli (Smith Rowe 63)– Nketiah (Lacazette 73). Subs not used: Leno, White, Pepe, Lokonga, Swanson, Patino