Mikel Arteta, Victor Osimhen and Gabriel Magalhaes (Photos by Eddie Keogh, Ahmad Mora, Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
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Sunday was a huge day for Arsenal.
Even at this early stage of the season, the North London derby felt like a crucial one for Mikel Arteta’s team in context of the wider campaign.
Defeat would have left them five points behind Manchester City ahead of next weekend’s trip to the Etihad. It would have put them under huge pressure going into that game.
The prospect of trailing City by eight points would have been a very real one and while the season has barely even got going, that still would have felt like an almost insurmountable gap to make up.
So it was absolutely crucial for Arsenal to get something at Spurs and they did that superbly. I thought it was an excellent performance given the circumstances.
With so many players out they could easily have felt a bit sorry for themselves, but instead they seemed determined to prove a point to everyone that was already writing them off.
They were resilient, they were strong and they found a way to win. That’s what you need if you want to win the biggest honours.
Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba were magnificent yet again. In my opinion they are the best centre-back partnership in world football.
They are just two defenders who love to defend. You could see they were relishing the situation they were in on Sunday. I never felt like Spurs were going to get through them, especially after Gabriel had headed Arsenal in front.
Saliba obviously gets lots of headlines and that’s understandable, but I do think that Gabriel is criminally under-rated at times.
I know that Arsenal have started the process of trying to extend his contract and I think that is very important. I think the discussions are still at quite an early stage, but he absolutely warrants a new deal.
He’s grown into such a leader since he first arrived and is up there with the very best there is in his position, as he proved once again against Spurs.
I also thought Jurrien Timber was excellent in the derby. It was his best performance yet in an Arsenal shirt. Kai Havertz was another player who ran himself into the ground for his side.
Both of those players epitomised the type of…
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