Arteta sleeps easier after another set piece settles derby

Arsenal's Gabriel celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire.

Premier League: Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1

MIKEL ARTÉTA hardly slept trying to mastermind a historic third consecutive away win in the north London derby. The Arsenal manager was without so many key players, his counterpart Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham supporters thought this was their time to shine.

Now Arteta can sleep easy after his set piece coach Nicolas Jover and a Gabriel header once again settled nerves and the match. A first hat-trick of away wins here in 36 years was won with their 23rd set-piece goal (excluding penalties) since the start of last season in the Premier League - the most of any side.

Like last season, when Postecoglou’s men had most possession, Arsenal secured this important victory without dominating the match. Tottenham had seven corners to Arsenal’s six yet rarely looked like troubling the goal. Record signing debutant Dominic Solanke made little impact.

Tottenham had such a raucous build-up but ended up slinking off heads hung low while their club blasted out inane music to try and drown out the celebrating Arsenal players and supporters. The celebrations were warranted after such a hard fought victory at the start of a week that takes them to Italy’s Atalanta in the Champions League and then to Manchester City on Sunday.

Arsenal had it all to do in midfield with captain Martin Odegaard out injured and Declan Rice suspended. Players such as Mikel Merino, Riccardo Calafiori and Olek Zinchenko who might have stepped in were also sidelined. Defenders Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu are both yet to feature in a squad this season.

Arteta had not relished the build-up to the first clash of the season with the arch enemy: “I didn’t enjoy it because I didn’t sleep much. I looked ahead to Spurs for four or five days and I had a super clear plan how to do it. I prepared all the meetings, the training sessions and everything. Then I get the news that we’ve lost a player, and then another player and then another player, and I had to completely change it and adapt the plan to the players that we had available.

“Now I am super happy. We know what it means to our club and our people to win a North London derby.

“We had good moments and others where we had to suffer. We suffered because we had to adapt the plan because of the players that we had available. I loved it. The second we started to get that news, the team got hungrier and hungrier to play that game. It’s a big compliment to everybody at the club to behave in a certain way. It’s a tough week coming and instead of finding any excuses we did the opposite. We faced the challenge, played with courage and acknowledged the qualities we had to win the game.”

Arsenal, on the back foot for most of the first 45 minutes, were suffering at the start of the second half when a rare break and some Bukayo Saka skills won them a 65th-minute corner. The England winger then set in an inch-perfect cross towards the rising Gabriel, who headed past rooted keeper Guglielmo Vicario, who had another poor derby.

Postecoglou was not a happy man when quizzed on his side’s lack of quality in attack and inability to defend at corners. “People think I don’t care but we work on them all the time! That’s my burden. There is a bigger picture to play here and the way forward for us is to turn football we play into something more meaningful. We lacked conviction in the final third and that is my job to guide them the way forward.”

It was all too disappointing for the expectant Tottenham supporters, hoping to bounce back from their defeat by Newcastle before the international break.

Just days after he signed a new three-year contract, Arteta took the opportunity to thank both set-piece coach Jover and goalscorer Gabriel.

Asked if Jover is the best in his field, Arteta said: “In his field, in other fields, as a person. That’s why I made the decision to bring him to City when I was there and then to Arsenal. Him and the staff have injected a belief to the players that there are many ways to win football matches.”

On man of the match Gabriel, he concluded: “The way he has evolved first as a person and then in his role in the club and the team has been phenomenal. It has been great to watch.

“This is why we are here, this is one of my passions to give players the environment, the support and coaching to grow, to prepare them for life and to get to levels they probably didn’t think [they could reach] before. Gabriel is one of the best examples of that. Why? He loves what he does, he applies himself extremely well and he wants it. When that happens, good things happen to these kinds of people.”

Postecoglou now needs to get his side up for a midweek League Cup trip to Coventry City, while Arteta has the challenge of a Thursday night match at Atalanta before an early season title showdown against his former club.

The smiling Spanish coach said: “Whether I have concerns or not about the schedule I’m sure we’re going to play Thursday and Sunday and then Tuesday (in the League Cup). It’s what it is. We have to adapt to that if we want to be a top team, a challenging team that is up there”

TOTTENHAM: Vicario 5, Porro 6, Van de Ven 6, Romero 6, Udogie 6, Bentancur 5 (Sarr 68), Maddison 6 (Werner 80), Kulusevski 7, Johnson 6 (Odobert 68), Son 7, Solanke 6.

ARSENAL: Raya 7, White 5, Saliba 7, Gabriel 8, Timber 6, Partey 6, Jorginho 7, Havertz 7, Saka 6 (Nwaneri 86), Trossard 6 (Jesus, 80), Martinelli 6 (Sterling 80).

Ref: Jarred Gillett 5