Harry Kane proved to be the difference in the north London derby again as Tottenham recorded a narrow 1-0 win over Arsenal at Wembley on Saturday.
A header from the England striker early in the second half was enough to earn Spurs all three points and move into third place in the Premier League with Liverpool and Chelsea playing on Sunday.
Here, we rate the performance of the Arsenal players.
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1)
Petr Cech – This game could have been a rugby score, if not a cricket score, and Cech made several stunning saves – including an Eriksen free-kick that was heading for the top corner. An encouraging return to form. One positive for Arsenal? 8
Hector Bellerin – Remained diligent as Spurs tried to overload the left-hand side through the efforts of Son and Eriksen. Should not be sucked into the vortex of despair that was Arsenal’s centre-back partnership… 7
Shkrodan Mustafi – Impressive for nine minutes, in which he made a goal-saving interception. The other 80-minutes plus were not so hot. It’s almost as if he had only met Koscielny on the morning of the game. 5
Laurent Koscielny – That was no foul for the goal – he’s just desperately weak in the air. The rabbit to Kane’s headlights. Will make an excellent cover tackle here and there, but when is Wenger going to sign an authoritative figure at the back. 4
Nacho Monreal – Offered little going forward but he was defensively disciplined and did as much as he could to stop the inevitable rot. The full-backs aren’t the problem at Arsenal. 7
Granit Xhaka – Put into perspective just how badly Wenger whiffed on signing Xhaka when you put him on the same pitch as Moussa Dembele. A hard man in nothing but name. In fact, how dare he call himself Granit. 5
Mohamed Elneny – A genuine plus on a day full of minuses. Stemmed some of the flow that came his way and on the rare occasion Arsenal drove up field, he was usually the instigator. Should not be the man to drop out when Aaron Ramsey comes back. 7
Mesut Ozil – Ghosted about, looking kind of dangerous, but don’t forget that ghost – in theory – can’t affect the mortal realm. Materialised into a physical presence at times but the flashes were few and far between. 5
Jack Wilshere – Looked like the good old Jack of about six or seven years ago for about six or seven minutes. He cares and plays with his heart on his sleeve. But how much he still has up his sleeve is up for debate. 6
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – The Armenian has a fairly lofty ceiling, but his floor hits the basement and keeps on going. Hit a three iron into the stands at one point. As any Manchester United fan will tell you – this sort of performance is neither rare nor surprising. 3
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – #YoPierre, where on earth are you? In fairness it’s hard to apportion too much blame to the shiny new striker who suffered through an impossibly dull game from his perspective. Was wrongly flagged for offside in the first half and could have scored. How he’d have wished for that much drama in the second. 5
Mousa Dembele (L) holds off Henrikh Mkhitaryan (C)
SUBSTITUTES:
Alexandre Lacazette – Strikers must strike and Lacazette, when he could have a snatched a fully undeserved point at the death, failed in his duties. 5
Alex Iwobi – He was on the pitch? 5
