LONDON – The Tottenham vs Arsenal player ratings are always fun to dish out and Sunday’s clash was no different.
Arsenal raced into a 3-0 lead at half time thanks to an own goal, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz as Mikel Arteta’s side were ruthless, but Tottenham came roaring back as Cristian Romero and Heung-min Son scored in the second half to make it 3-2 late on.
[ MORE: Spurs 2-3 Arsenal analysis, highlights ]
But the Gunners held on for a crucial win as they remain top of the Premier League table and have put the pressure back on Manchester City.
Below are the Tottenham vs Arsenal player ratings in full, with marks out of 10 and analysis.
Tottenham player ratings
Guglielmo Vicario: 6 – Made a few big stops. Couldn’t fault him on Arsenal’s goals. Struggled from corners when Arsenal chipped them in and targeted him.
Pedro Porro: 6 – Kept Leandro Trossard quiet and as always did his best to get forward and whip in crosses. But the quality on the crosses weren’t great.
Cristian Romero: 8 – Scored a calm finish, hit the post with a header, should have scored another header, and generally was involved in everything. Flew in to so many challenges and set the tone for Tottenham.
Micky van de Ven: 7 – Scored a disallowed goal, used his pace on several occasions to get Spurs out of trouble when Arsenal countered. Could he have headed clear on Havertz’s goal?
Ben Davies: 4 – Given a torrid time by Saka. Davies was run ragged and Spurs can surely only ask him to play as a center back in Ange’s system.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: 5 – Worked hard but couldn’t impact the game after his surprise inclusion. Rice and Co. had too much quality for him.
Rodrigo Bentancur: 3 – A really poor display and hooked off at half time. Didn’t get on the ball enough, allowed Arsenal’s midfielders to charge forward, and Spurs had no defensive balance.
Dejan Kulusevski: 6 – Worked hard on the right and then centrally. Created some big chances and was always direct with his running.
James Maddison: 4 – Probably one of his worst games in a Tottenham shirt. Gave the ball away on several occasions as Arsenal snapped at him all game long.
Timo Werner: 5 – Subbed off after 31 minutes with an injury. Didn’t do much in the opening half hour going forward.
Heung-min Son: 5 – Pretty anonymous for the majority of the game aside from smashing home his penalty kick. Blazed one golden chance way over the bar just before half time.
Substitutes
Brennan Johnson (on for Werner 31′): 5 – Wasted a lot of good crossing chances.
Pape Matar Sarr (on for Bentancur 46′): 6 – Worked hard and was brave on the ball.
Yves Bissouma (on for Hojbjerg 64′): 6 – Did well to wrestle back control of midfield.
Richarlison (on for Maddison 64′): 6 – Gave Spurs a spark in attack late on and worried Arsenal.
Extended HLs: Tottenham v. Arsenal Matchweek 35
Relive Arsenal’s five-goal thriller against Tottenham in the North London Derby, where the Gunners took another step towards title contention with a nail-biting win over Spurs in Matchweek 35.
Arsenal player ratings
David Raya: 5 – Poor mistake for Romero’s goal and took a few risks here and there. Took crosses well.
Ben White: 7 – Great entertainment at set pieces as he helped cause chaos. Defended Werner and Johnson well.
William Saliba: 7 – Solid display as he looked calm amid all of the craziness going on.
Gabriel: 7 – See above. What a partnership they have formed as Son didn’t have a kick.
Takehiro Tomiyasu: 5 – Flustered throughout by Kulusevski. Some sloppy passes too.
Martin Odegaard: 6 – Hardly had a touch in the first half and taken off late in the second half. Couldn’t get involved in the game as he usually does but kept buzzing around.
Thomas Partey: 7 – Did well to break up play and some tidy passes to get Arsenal moving forward. Justified his inclusion in such a big game.
Declan Rice: 7 – Really dominant in midfield for the most part but a poor, tired challenge to give the penalty kick away to set up a tense finish.
Bukayo Saka: 9 – Sublime. Took his goal so well. Whipped in magnificent crosses and took so many whacks.
Kai Havertz: 9 – Scored his goal, showed great movement and brave hold up play as he drifted around. What a few months he is having.
Leandro Trossard: 6 – Worked hard down the left but couldn’t really have a big impact on the game.
Substitutes
Gabriel Martinelli (on for Trossard 63′): 5 – Didn’t have any service and struggled to get in the game.
Jakub Kiwior (on for Odegaard 89′): N/A
