Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta could not hide his joy after leading his young Gunners side to another win over Tottenham away from home on Sunday in the Premier League.
Gabriel’s header on 63 minutes was enough to clinch a third-straight win away at Spurs since 1988 and secure the North London bragging rights for the sixth time in the last eight fixtures.
The Gunners reigned supreme in the North London derby once again to stay in touch with leaders Manchester City on top of the Premier League log after four games.
Having gone close to winning the Premier League in the past two seasons, the Gunners are showing that they will be among the top sides once again in the current season and it is expected that Arsenal tickets will see a surge in sales.
Arsenal missed several first-team members, but they showed immense character and determination to return to winning ways following the stalemate with Brighton at the Emirates before the international break.
How Mikel Arteta Masterminded Another Win at Tottenham
Arteta’s team was up against it after skipper Martin Ødegaard and summer signing Ricardo Calafiori picked up injuries on international duty and Declan Rice who was sent off against Brighton in the previous game. In addition, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko missed the trip due to injury, leaving the Gunners short of first-team players for such an important fixture.
However, Arteta was able to maximize the players available at this disposal to conjure a fantastic win on the road. The Spaniard did a minor tweak with the lineup as Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli started together in attack, while deadline-day signing Raheem Sterling got a place on the bench among many academy players. It proved to be a tactical masterclass at the end of the day.
Despite missing key players in Ødegaard and Rice, the Gunners midfield led by Jorginho still dominated the contest and created multiple goalscoring chances. As they have been in recent seasons, the Gunners remained a threat from set-pieces, and it was not surprising that the game’s only goal came from there.
Bukayo Saka – a constant performer for the Gunners – saw his corner powered home by Garbiel Magalhães to spur the visitors to a convincing win on the road.
Delighted Arteta Speaks
Having clinched a hat-trick of derby day wins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Mikel Arteta was delighted that his young side got the job done once again at the home of their rivals.
Reflecting post-match, Arteta said: “We have the power to make a lot of people happy and proud. We certainly did that today in the manner that we won the game in the circumstances that we had before arriving into this match, and with this being the third consecutive away win here as well, it means a lot. So hopefully, they can enjoy it.
“There are certain things that we have to do better for sure, especially the simple things with the ball that I wasn’t happy at all with. But there are other things in the game that we have to do and the way we competed and defended, and the way we have the intention all the time to run in the spaces that they give you, it was unbelievable.
“Then you have to find a way to win in any context, and today it was tricky, because first of all they are a great opponent, secondly because we have to alter our plan quite a lot for the players that we had, and then you still win the game.”
As another record was broken, this result meant the Gunners have won for the sixth league game on the road in a row, have won 10 of the 11 away league games in 2024 without trailing at any point, and kept a ninth clean sheet in that time.
While his players now boast the belief that they can go and win anywhere now, Arteta also feels that there’s a lot more behind those incredible numbers, but ahead of further road games against Atalanta and Manchester City next week, he is happy the confidence continues to flow through his players.
“I think we have to get a lot of things right in this league to be able to do that. It’s great, I love winning. I love winning especially when you make other people really proud and happy, so let’s enjoy tonight and get ready for what’s coming.
“That gives us a lot of energy, belief, a good platform to start and now recover, start to talk about Atalanta because it’s going to be a tough one.”
On Gabi becoming his side’s latest derby day hero, Areta added: “He knows what it means and it’s going to go there in the history of these matches and he’s been superb.
“When a centre-back can do first his role in the manner that he does it and then adds goals to win football matches, then you’re talking about something else.”
Records Broken in Latest North London Derby
Arsenal have won six consecutive Premier League away games for the first time since March-September 2013 when they won eight in a row under Arsène Wenger. They’ve also now won three consecutive away north London derbies for the first time since September 1988.
Gabriel Magalhães is now one of only four Arsenal players to score 10+ headed goals in the Premier League, along with Olivier Giroud (27), Ian Wright (14) and Emmanuel Adebayor (12).
Since the start of last season, Arsenal have scored more goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties) than any other team in the Premier League (24).
Raheem Sterling is the first player to make his competitive debut for Arsenal in a north London derby since Isaiah Rankin in December 1997.
Three of Arsenal’s last four Premier League goals against rivals Tottenham have been from corners – only three of their previous 88 north London derby league goals had been from corners before this.