“It’s a problem in itself that we give up opportunities.”
Tottenham lost 2-3 against Arsenal in the 35th round of the 2023-2024 Premier League at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England on the 28th (Korea time). Tottenham lost despite recovering two goals in the second half by conceding three goals without responding to the opponent’s customized tactics at all in the first half alone.
With this victory, Arsenal had 80 points (25 wins, five draws, and five losses), approaching the league title. Their 5-0 victory over Chelsea and 3-0 victory over Tottenham, their nemesis, demonstrated their qualification to advance to the championship by winning the North London derby.
On the other hand, Tottenham ended up destroying itself as it suffered another crushing defeat following the match against Newcastle (0-4). As it is now set to move on to away matches between Chelsea and Liverpool, its possibility to enter the fourth place virtually became uncertain. With 60 points (18 wins, six draws, and nine losses), Tottenham is lagging far behind Aston Villa (66 points), in terms of goal difference.
On top of that, Tottenham is also lagging behind in profit and loss (Aston Villa +21, Tottenham +16) due to a crushing defeat against Newcastle (0-4). It is also uncertain whether Tottenham will be able to advance to the UEFA Champions League (UCL), which was initially expected to rank fifth. With both Manchester City and Arsenal of the PLA eliminated, the Bundesliga is second only to Serie A and is likely to secure five UCL seats.
Tottenham formed its offense around Son Heung-min as expected before the start of the game. He led the offense with Timo Werner, James Medicine, and Dejan Kulusevski. Like any other game, he was one-top but did not receive proper support.
Meanwhile, Son set a new record for the most appearances in the North London derby, beating Harry Kane and Theo Walcott (19 matches). Since moving to Arsenal in the 2015-2016 season, Son has recorded seven goals and two assists in 19 matches. He added one more goal in the league standard.
In the first half of the day, the concepts of the two teams were clearly different. Tottenham presented Plan A, which is being operated by manager Engie Postecoglou all season. On the other hand, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta thoroughly brought Tottenham Engie Ball’s customized counterattack strategy. He gave up the initiative and sought counterattack.
Arsenal’s play hit the spot. In the 15th minute of the first half, Tottenham’s Hoivierre’s failure to properly clear the ball was deflected and led to a loss. Tottenham immediately hit back when Van de Pen’s shot hit the goal, but offside was declared after VAR.
This offside was huge. Tottenham was reeling. Arsenal widened the gap in the 27th minute when Saka received a long pass from Havertz and finished the game with a calm left footed shot. On top of that, Havertz scored a header goal from a corner kick and quickly ran away with a 3-0 run, which made Tottenham feel as if it would collapse.
At the start of the second half, Tottenham replaced Bentancur with Pape Sarr. In the 18th minute of the second half, Hishalisson replaced Madison and Yves Misuma replaced Pierre-Hoyvier, making changes. At the same time, Son was out in the left wing.
The change came as an immediate effect. After blocking Arsenal’s attack in the 18th minute of the second half, Tottenham immediately launched a counterattack. On top of that, Romero did not miss Raya’s error, and the score was 1-3 as Romero kicked the ball across the fence.
Son Heung-min, who played as the left wing, began to move more aggressively. Tottenham received a penalty kick in the 42nd minute of the second half when it was busy. As a kicker, Son finished calmly and recorded his 16th goal (nine assists) in the league, catching up by one goal.
Despite such hard work, Tottenham failed to score an additional goal. In the end, Son was disappointed by the disappointing defeat in his 20th North London Derby. Attention is focusing on where Son’s next challenge will lead, as he failed to smile despite his 16th goal in the league. 토토사이트
In the end, the match was once again largely due to the opponent’s customized tactics in the first half. As with the match against Newcastle, they failed to do anything when the opponent team gave up the lead and aimed for a counterattack. On top of that, it has been proven true that there is a problem with the team by conceding only two goals in the set piece.
Postecoglou promised to improve set-piece defense. “It is true that there is a problem with our team’s set-piece defense. Still, it is not the only problem for our team. If I could fix that, I would have focused on it if I could win,” he said.
“Basically, we are a team with a lot of problems. The problem is that we allow dangerous scenes whenever we play against strong teams, not only set pieces but also overall. It is a really big problem that there are many moments when the opponent does not recognize us every time,” he stressed.
