Tottenham continued to pile the pressure on Chelsea with an impressive 2-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday.
In what was the final North London derby at the old White Hart Lane, Spurs gave their fans a memorable swansong as they dispatched rivals Arsenal with ease, winning 2-0 on the night.
Tireless midfielder Dele Alli got Tottenham Hotspur up and running as he opened the scoring for the hosts before Harry Kane earned and converted a penalty to seal a vital three points for Spurs.
Here are five talking points from the game:
Arsenal dig a deeper grave for themselves as top four seems like an extremely long shot
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger may have not won too many league titles during his tenure at the Emirates, but has maintained a certain level of consistency, especially when it comes to the competitions the Gunners participate in.
He has guided his team to the Champions League for the last 18 seasons running, but this time around, that is looking highly unlikely. A campaign full of promise came to an abrupt turning point come the turn of the year, and Arsenal have not quite recovered from it as yet.
On Sunday, they played after Manchester City and United, and both of them were held to draws against Middlesbrough and Swansea respectively. Should Arsenal have won, they would have closed the gap on their top four rivals.
However, as expected, they failed to capitalise on the slip-ups of the chasing pack, and failed to get past a rampant Spurs side.
Koscielny off the pace from the start for the Gunners
When Arsenal have won a game convincingly from start to the end, it’s likely that Laurent Koscielny was in the starting lineup, shouting orders to his teammates from the back. He has been the glue that has sometimes held a hapless Gunners outfit together.
In the North London Derby, that wasn’t to be, as the Frenchman endured a torrid 90 minutes on the field of play. To be fair to him, he wasn’t a hundred percent to begin with, and was risked as Wenger had an absence of leaders and defenders to start the game.
Not used to playing in a back three, Koscielny looked out of shape since the outset. As they game continued, he showed signs of fatigue, and that affected his concentration and overall judgement of the match.
Son puts in another spirited performance and shows how underrated he is in the Spurs setup
When Spurs employed a 3-4-2-1 system, Son found it hard to get into the team as the two attacking positions were always occupied by Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli. However, since they reverted to a 4-2-3-1, the Korean has come into form.
Against Arsenal, the left winger was a joy to watch. With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain playing in an unfamiliar wing back position and Gabriel playing on the right side of the three defenders, Son exploited their weakness with the utmost ease.
He was faster than Oxlade-Chamberlain on most exchanges, and was a nightmare for the English winger, as he had to keep tracking to nullify the threat posed by the South Korean. Son also managed to draw Gabriel out of position and leave gaps for the likes of Alli and Kane to penetrate the Arsenal back line.
Arsenal played like ten men and Alexis Sanchez
After being a hero for the North London club at the start of the season, Alexis Sanchez does not look to be enjoying himself too much at this point in time. He is probably frustrated with what has been going on off the pitch as well as on it, and it has affected his game.
He no longer seems like he is willing to adjust into the Arsenal philosophy, and is instead hell-bent on playing the way he wants to. This was evident when the Gunners were completely outclassed by their city rivals.
Sanchez played on the left side of the attacking three and looked energetic, trying to win the ball back from the opposition defenders. However, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud, both did not show the same amount of intensity, which saw the Chilean let his tempers get the better of him.
He lost his focus and was quarreling with his counterparts, and asking them to put in the extra mile for the team. It is looking more and more unlikely with every passing game that Sanchez is going to stay at the club next season.
Pochettino plays his cards right
While Spurs have all but lost the race for the Premier League crown, it has been a season of promise for Mauricio Pochettino & co. At the start of the season, nobody expected Spurs to mount a realistic title challenge given the managers that joined the top clubs.
Yet, Pochettino prevailed over the likes of Guardiola and Mourinho, and also managed to get one over Chelsea boss Antonio Conte. His tactics all season have been exemplary, and wouldn’t it have been for the Italian’s magic at Stamford Bridge, Spurs would have lifted the trophy.
Even on Sunday, he set his side up perfectly to exploit the weakness of Arsenal’s 3-4-2-1 system. The Argentine employed the same system for a few weeks this season, and figured out the way to outwit it.
The decision to play Kieran Trippier over Kyle Walker came as a huge shock, but the former managed to deliver the goods in a high-pressure encounter at White Hart Lane. Eric Dier, too, impressed in a slightly advanced position, and all in all, it was a tactical masterclass from Poch.
