Arsenal defender, Gabriel Magalhaes came through with a powerful header that made the difference in the 65th Premier League North London derby, as Arsenal emerged the better side with 1-0 scoreline over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, earning their third consecutive away head-to-head win.
In the first half, the Gunners spent the early stages trying to settle in without their absentees, the likes of Odegaard who Niger Delta Connect previously reported to be injured and Declan Rice.
Spurs immediately picked up the pace by taking advantage of their opponents, while looking for an opener. Dejan Kulusevski put David Raya to the test with a shot just eight minutes into the game but the Spaniard was equal to the task.
At the quarter-hour, Arsenal looked to slow down the game in order to take the sting out of it but Ben White’s intercepted pass gave Dominic Solanke hope before it was snuffed out by William Saliba.
Later on, Martinelli attempted to get the better of Pedro Porro twice in quick succession, although his cross for Kai Havertz saw Guglielmo Vicario and Cristian Romero team up to deal with the danger before the Brazilian’s own effort was routinely held.
With both teams' show of desperation to take the lead in such a big fixture, Leandro Trossard and Havertz had an effort apiece which eventually was denied shortly before Solanke looped a header agonisingly wide at the other end.
Meanwhile, the North London derby descended into "chaos" in the first half after a face-off between Jurrien Timber and Guglielmo Vicario sparked fury.
Players on the field from both teams rushed into a melee by the goal line to intervene after Timber had put in a reckless challenge and was being confronted by the Spurs keeper.
Shortly after the restart, Solanke and Micky van de Ven both got headers off, before a period of play in which neither goalkeeper was stretched as the teams tussled for supremacy.
A tame shot was hit by Brennan Johnson straight to Raya on the hour mark before Bukayo Saka’s attempt was blocked by Porro at the other end.
However, the winger then took the ensuing corner, allowing Gabriel jump unattacked to power his header past Vicario to inspire an emphatic celebrations at the away end.
Despite the fact that Spurs applied constant pressure in search of an equaliser, it couldn’t break down Mikel Arteta’s resolute backline.
Finally, Arsenal returned to winning ways and maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
On the other hand, Spurs have reportedly suffered back-to-back defeats while recording just one win from four of their PL matches this term.
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