The pomp and ceremony of the pre-match build-up attempted to pour fuel on the idea that Arsenal are full of angst. “They are nervous as hell!” boomed around the stadium’s PA system. Only they weren’t. They were bloody-minded and the only bottle they exhibited was of the daring, bold variety that underpinned a handsome victory.
Invoking the gods of nerves was an understandable impulse given recent frailties. But Tottenham did not know Arsenal had spent the past few days healing, unifying, preparing, and energising behind closed doors. Mikel Arteta reflected on how his group lived the period between points inexplicably frittered away at Wolves and confidently spearing the heart of their rivals four days later.
“You have to lift yourself up because you’re feeling angry, upset, ashamed at some point,” he said. “And we are all different nationalities, we all have different feelings, and you have to bring everybody together. We said, ‘OK, let’s love the players when they need it the most’. It’s been a joy to spend that time together with them, to align everybody. But after, you have to live on the pitch.”
The way they did so was notable in the way Arsenal’s attack caught fire. They have been waiting a while for that to happen — arguably all season in terms of a consistent flow of bonded forward players expressing themselves as a group. Eyes have been on the three signings recruited last summer to freshen up and add depth to Arsenal’s front line. Arteta persevered — well, he had to — particularly while he waits for Kai Havertz to be robust enough to take on a more serious load.
Viktor Gyokeres had his finest Arsenal game (John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze were both selected to start (with Noni Madueke a late substitute). They have found the going very tough at times since joining Arsenal. Yet during a rampant second half in particular, both Gyokeres and Eze looked as if they had been injected with a monster dose of confidence. Who were these guys? Where had they been hiding?
“You have to show when it matters,” Arteta said. “When it’s really on the edge and people are doubting, that’s when you have to stand up.”
Of all the places and all the times to rip off their attacking inhibitions, it could be no more meaningful than down the road, with a title at stake and steam coming out of the Premier League pressure cooker. It was not a coincidence that the attackers as a whole felt buoyed alongside Bukayo Saka at full tilt. Arsenal’s talisman has not had the easiest of seasons himself, troubled by hamstring and then hip injuries, searching for a crisp rhythm after major surgery last year.
Reinstated in his familiar position wide right, he took it upon himself from the start to torment Tottenham. He provided a kind of technical leadership and it was soon apparent that his connection with Eze, when they are both in the mood, has tantalising possibilities.
Arteta enthused about Saka’s input: “I loved his attitude, his presence, how dominant he was in the game. From the beginning, the first reaction immediately is like, (bang) he wants to grab the game and he really wants to say I’m here. And that’s what I love.”
Saka was at the heart of so much positivity. His intent was rewarded when he nipped along the byline and rolled a cutback to Eze. With his first touch, he flicked the ball up and as it fell, he stretched balletically to volley it in.
In the heart of the celebrations, Declan Rice reminded his team-mates to keep their heads. And yet…
The capacity of Arsenal to drop a banana skin under their own foot is remarkable. Rice made such an uncharacteristic error to provide a team that had created nothing with something. He dallied when tidying up near his own box, gifting Randal Kolo Muani the chance to score from Tottenham’s first real chance all game.
Briefly, the conversation about nervousness felt apt, but Arsenal’s thrust in the second half obliterated that possibility. Once they regained the lead, they played with a different focus and energy. The chase was on for more, rather than the cautiousness of perceived protection.
Gyokeres excelled in all departments. It has been a long time coming. Both his goals demonstrated perfect centre-forward play. For his first, he took a clean touch and walloped his shot, with a dash of curl, into the net. His second was struck emphatically, too. But apart from that, he chased and linked play with relish.
Eze’s own enjoyment of the occasion helped his performance to rise. All clever touches and deceptive movement, this was the Eze Arsenal couldn’t bear to miss out on. This was the Eze who captures the imagination when he can spread his wings.
Eze now has five goals against Spurs for Arsenal (John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
His productivity against the team that chased him during the summer, before that fateful conversation with Arsenal, has been a highlight of a season of complex adaptation. But if a boyhood Arsenal fan is going to have a sweet spot, it may as well be against the old enemy. He followed up a hat-trick at the Emirates with a pair here for a phenomenal return against this special opponent.
“I could see that he wanted to prove something,” Arteta reflected. “He was upset, even with me, because I didn’t play him the other day from the beginning, and some of the decisions that I made. And I just have to understand how we’re going to get the best out of him now.”
So here’s the rub. When Arsenal beat Tottenham by the same scoreline in November, they followed it with a stylish 3-1 win over Bayern Munich, and the characteristics of this emerging team looked full of promise. Since then, there have been plenty of ups and a few gloomy downs along the way, while they have endeavoured to find the swagger of potential winners during the hard slog of the season.
Whether this version of medicine helped along by Tottenham-induced happiness is a more substantial turning point remains to be seen. Perhaps the best way to deal with nerves is to go on the attack.
As Arteta summed up, “We showed what we are made of, but then you have to show it again and again and again.”