LONDON — Arsenal is leaving archrival Tottenham’s stadium with a win for the third season in a row after Gabriel Magalhaes’ second-half header settled a feisty and physical north London derby in the Premier League on Sunday.
Tottenham had Arsenal pegged back for much of the game but couldn’t make its chances count as the visitors weathered the pressure before Gabriel secured a 1-0 win by scoring in the 64th minute. The Brazilian center back lost his marker and met a corner from Bukayo Saka with a thumping header from the middle of the box.
“It is a big derby and we are so happy to win here,” said Gabriel, who celebrated boisterously in front of the away fans after the final whistle. “Let’s enjoy it now.”
The goal came largely against the run of play but secured a vital victory for Arsenal, which is already two points behind defending champion Manchester City and could ill afford to drop more points ahead of a trip to the Etihad Stadium next weekend.
The visitors were slightly fortunate not to be trailing early, though, as Tottenham took full advantage of Arsenal’s weakened midfield to boss proceedings for much of the opening hour.
Without the suspended Declan Rice and the injured Martin Odegaard, Arsenal never looked comfortable against Tottenham’s press and struggled to establish anything resembling its normal passing game.
But Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya made two good early saves to keep Tottenham at bay, while Spurs striker Dominic Solanke failed to make the most of a couple of decent chances.
“We had to work really hard as you saw, we knew it was going to be a difficult game,” said Arsenal midfielder Jorginho, who captained Arsenal in Odegaard’s absence. “We had key players missing but we are a total team, the whole squad. We know that whoever comes on will be ready to help the team.”
It was a very different game compared to last year’s fixture, when Arsenal went 3-0 up before holding off a late fightback to win 3-2. But it had its usual share of physical tackles and temper flare-ups, with seven bookings handed out in the first half alone.
And Arsenal had to hang on in the final minutes again, although Tottenham’s only half chances for an equalizer came when Solanke sent a header straight at Raya in the 88th and Dejan Kulusevski sent his long-range shot over the bar in injury time.
Arsenal only had three senior outfield players available on the bench, including transfer deadline-day signing Raheem Sterling who came on for his Gunners debut in the 80th minute.
In Sunday’s only other Premier League game, Wolves hosted Newscastle in the later kickoff.
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