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Kieran Tierney of Arsenal (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Arsenal have just beat their bitter rivals Tottenham in the second North London Derby of the season and it’s the first time Mikel Arteta has beaten the side he will always hate. It was a game filled with plenty of action but the Gunners were, by a country mile, the better side throughout.
Here are three players that were key to giving the red (and only) side of North London bragging rights for the rest of the week…
1. Arsenal’s MOTM Kieran Tierney
In my opinion, Kieran Tierney was the best player on the pitch today, and it was by a country mile. The Scotsman knows what it means to play in a derby, having had his fair share of Old Firms over the years.
He brought the Scottish passion to North London and made Gareth Bale look completely silly. There was only one winner in this battle and it was Tierney. He played plenty of sumptuous crosses and got the assist for Martin Odegaard‘s first Premier League goal.
Kieran Tierney</a> was the best player on the pitch today, and it was by a country mile. The Scotsman knows what it means to play in a derby, having had his fair share of Old Firms over the years.</p>
<p>He brought the Scottish passion to North London and made Gareth Bale look completely silly. There was only one winner in this battle and it was Tierney. He played plenty of sumptuous crosses and got the assist for <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/14/arsenal-2-1-tottenham-3-players-key/"https://fbref.com/en/players/79300479/Martin-Odegaard?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Martin Odegaard</a>‘s first Premier League goal.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/14/arsenal-2-1-tottenham-3-players-key/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Arsenal's young creator </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-486314" src=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/14/arsenal-2-1-tottenham-3-players-key/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1231712918-1-850x560.jpeg" alt="Arsenal" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">Arsenal’s English midfielder Emile Smith Rowe (Photo by NICK POTTS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>2. Emile Smith-Rowe</h2>
<p>Although he didn’t get a goal or provide an assist, Emile Smith Rowe’s performance was that good that he warrants second place in this list. The youngster was exceptional throughout the 77 minutes he played, and he even came close to scoring a long-range shot which hit the crossbar. The miss came from nothing but won’t go down as a blunder since Arsenal got the result.</p>
<p>Since I’m mentioning Smith Rowe, I must give an honourable mention to his creative partner Martin Odegaard who also put in an excellent display, of course, getting on the scoresheet. In these two, the Gunners have two like-for-like options.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/14/arsenal-2-1-tottenham-3-players-key/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> The man who stepped up without Auba </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-486315" src=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/14/arsenal-2-1-tottenham-3-players-key/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1307055628-850x560.jpeg" alt="Arsenal" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal (Photo by Nick Potts – Pool/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>3. Alexandre Lacazette</h2>
<p>Aubameyang didn’t start in this match, because he was late to the pre-match meetup. Whether this was a fair decision is a debate for another post. But one thing can be said for certain; Lacazette did well to step up in his absence.</p>
<p>He got off to a great start as he started the match with plenty of energy, playing in the faces of the Spurs defence and pressurising them well. But his performance was capped off when he won AND scored the winning penalty, a just moment considering he came close to scoring a few times.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="3 things learned from Arsenal's win over Olympiacos" data-url="https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/12/olympiacos-1-3-arsenal-learned/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/14/arsenal-2-1-tottenham-3-players-key/"https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/12/olympiacos-1-3-arsenal-learned/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> 3 things learned from Arsenal's win over Olympiacos </a> </div>
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<p>What did you make of Arsenal’s display?</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
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