Neil Humphreys: Meet the new Arsenal
Risk-taking manager Emery runs off with derby win
Arsene Wenger couldn't find his zip. Arsenal have rediscovered their zip under Unai Emery.
| ARSENAL | TOTTENHAM |
| 4 | 2 |
| (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 10-pen, 56, Alexandre Lacazette 75, Lucas Torreira 77) | (Eric Dier 30, Harry Kane 34-pen) |
Whereas Wenger couldn't get his coat off, his successor in the Gunners dugout has taken the gloves off.
Thanks to their plucky Spanish manager, Arsenal can no longer sing the same old song. They are no longer the same old Arsenal. They are plucky, gutsy, committed and indefatigable.
Their astonishing 4-2 victory in one of the most intoxicating North London Derbies in recent memory was a testament to Emery's willingness to take risks and radically alter the complexion of the team in a bid to retrieve a desperate situation.
At half-time, Arsenal were 2-1 down to Tottenham and looked shattered. Defeat seemed inevitable. But Emery made a double substitution, bringing on Aaron Ramsey, who set up the equaliser, and Alexandre Lacazette, who scored the decisive third.
Unlike Wenger, Emery wins games from the dugout and has now extended the Gunners' unbeaten run to 19 games.
Tottenham began and ended the contest utterly traumatised.
Before kick-off, Jan Vertonghen's injury niggles were the major concern, considering he was marshalling the defence alongside rookie Juan Foyth.
But Vertonghen's dodgy hamstring proved less troublesome than a wayward arm.
Only he knows why he pulled off a handball so comically ridiculous, he looked like he was waving to the crowd.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put away the spot-kick in the 10th minute, leaving Vertonghen to ponder his decision to play volleyball with himself.
Not that the Belgian was the only skittish performer. Tottenham's defenders appeared less stable than a baby giraffe on a frozen lake.
Emery's 3-4-3 seemed a risky endeavour, but the Gunners poured forward. Sead Kolasinac bullied Serge Aurier so many times, it was a wonder he didn't pinch the right-back's lunch money.
And then, Vertonghen's love of volleyball proved contagious, inflicting the hapless Bernd Leno on the half-hour mark.
The Arsenal goalkeeper met Eric Dier's glancing header in the way he might meet a rabid Rottweiler. He patted at Dier's gentle effort in a fashion that suggested he couldn't decide whether to be a volleyballer or a wicketkeeper.
He achieved neither. Never mind Bernd Leno, Jay Leno would've saved it. For younger readers, Leno was an American stand-up, something Son Heung Min failed to do just minutes later.
HOLDING NO ICARUS
The South Korean cut inside Rob Holding and went down like he'd been cut down with a parang. Replays showed that Holding was no Icarus. He didn't get too close to Son. He barely touched him.
VAR can't come soon enough.
Still, Son launched himself through the air with such enthusiasm that referee Mike Dean awarded the penalty to give Harry Kane his eighth goal in eight games against the Gunners.
Arsenal weren't happy with the butter-soft penalty or Dier's earlier goal celebrations, kicking off a bitchy battle of the handbags. The commentators called it a fracas, which suggested the commentators should get out more.
A little spice added real flavour to a feisty encounter, one that threatened to boil over when Arsenal equalised with the goal of the game in the 56th minute.
Hector Bellerin's wonderfully curled ball slipped between the lines to substitute Ramsey, whose no-look flick rolled towards Aubameyang.
Without breaking stride, the striker lashed a strike around Hugo Lloris from a full 20m, a glorious finish in an equally glorious contest.
The EPL suits charged with giving their product a shine can irritate with their interminable "best league in the world" boasts, but this rip-roaring powerhouse of a performance really did live up to the hype.
Extraordinarily, the fireworks still managed to conjure another couple of explosions.
First, substitute Lacazette hit a strike that took a wicked deflection and spun away from Lloris in the 75th minute.
And just two minutes later, Lucas Torreira hammered a low shot home from an acute angle.
Just to ruin Tottenham's day, Vertonghen was sent off near the end for a second bookable offence.
The Gunners could only savour the most perfect of days.
Such rugged, muscular comebacks were rare under Wenger. But they are becoming the norm under Emery.
The Gunners need a new song now. Same Old Arsenal. Always fighting.
ARSENAL: Leno, Mustafi (Guendouzi 71), Sokratis, Holding, Bellerin, Torreira, Xhaka, Kolasinac, Mkhitaryan (Ramsey 46), Aubameyang, Iwobi (Lacazette 46)
SPURS: Lloris, Aurier, Vertonghen, Foyth, Davies (Rose 79), Dier, Sissoko, Eriksen, Alli (Winks 79), Son (Lucas 79), Kane
*Neil Humphreys' new book, A Royal Pain in the Class, is out in all bookstores today. See The write way: Neil Humphreys' 5 tips for writing your novel for Humphreys' writing tips.
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