Arsenal and Tottenham played out a thrilling 2-2 draw with Heung-min Son showing why he is the new lynchpin under Ange Postecoglou, Reelradio.com.ng reports.
It almost wasn’t to be for Spurs though as Cristian Romero scored an own goal and then gave away a penalty in the second half.
Here’s what we made of it.
One of the greats
The north London derby usually produces classics.
There have been 3-3s, 4-5s and 5-2s in this fixture over recent years with goals coming alongside blood and thunder.
And today’s match-up instantly became one of the Arsenal-Tottenham greats.
It was a breathless, brilliant game with the both teams enjoying periods of pressure and then coming under fire.
The way the game turned at times was like a cricket test match or a heavyweight bout in boxing.
What really stuck out though, was just how much Tottenham have improved in the few months since Postecoglou joined.
Spurs came to the red half of north London and took Arsenal on at their own game.
Yes, there were times when they overplayed and got caught out – but that’s all part of the process to try and become one of the best attacking sides in Europe.
And then there’s the mentality shift to go to the home of your biggest rivals and pull a goal back twice.
You know this already Tottenham fans, but things are happening under that Australian coach of yours.
Conversation over
And with one foul swoop, Aaron Ramsdale’s career at Arsenal is almost certainly over.
After a relatively impressive campaign last time out – in which he played every single game in the Premier League and established himself as a potential England shot-stopper – Ramsdale is a starter no more.
After David Raya was picked against Everton last time out, Mikel Arteta insisted that he wanted to rotate his goalkeepers like in any other position.
Then Raya was given the nod against PSV and plenty of Arsenal-watchers started to wonder if that was the case.
An hour before kick off here, it was clear that Arteta now prefers the Spanish shot-stopper to the former Sheffield United man.
And the reasons why were fairly clear from this afternoon’s proceedings.
Raya didn’t have too much to do in terms of amount of shots saved but when he was needed, the ex-Brentford man usually came out on top.
There was one particularly flurry of chances late in the first half that really stuck in the memory, with Brennan Johnson seeing a close-range effort spectacularly clawed away by Raya.
It’s safe to say that the Arsenal number one conversation is now done with.
I am the Son and the heir
This afternoon really belonged to one man.
With Harry Kane leaving this summer, most of the expectation at Spurs fell on to the shoulders of one man.
And Heung-min Son welcomed that pressure with open arms.
The South Korea international scored twice at the Emirates to earn his side a share of the points and to take his tally of goals at Spurs to 150.
It wasn’t just the goals that impressed though.
What equally stood out was his work rate off the ball, his authority on the pitch and the calmness with which he dispatched his two goals.
Perhaps no player better personifies the way in which Postecoglou wants to play football and Tottenham fans are lucky to have him.
