Arsenal could not find the back of the net on a night of great expectations from the massive home crowd. Instead, they were opened up twice by the visitors to gift them two goals, one in each half. Well-composed finishes made the difference.
We approached the game with vision from the start but should I say our flaws in defence once again manifested like we saw in our defeat at Southampton on Sunday. Similar to the last Premier League game, our defence was an improvised one. Granit Xhaka played as a centre back. How does that sound to you? Well, we made use of what we had at our disposal.
Our best opportunity in the first fifteen minutes of the match was fired straight at Paulo Gazzaniga by Henrikh Mkhitaryan under less pressure. Aaron Ramsey would had been pained that his flick was not well utilized.
It did not take too long before we were made to regret our actions of not taking chances when we ought to have done so. Heung-Min Son got a long ball sent into his way making it a one-on-one situation with Petr Cech and he finished clinically to give Spurs the lead. Mixed opinions arose at this point but VAR was available to show evidence that it was not an offside goal.
Ramsey's volley against the post and Sokratis' wide header from a corner did not change the score at halftime so it became necessary to make a change and Unai Emery introduced Laurent Koscielny.
Arsenal got a free-kick taken by Xhaka. However, the end result was far from what we saw him do against Newcastle United and Crystal Palace in the course of the ongoing Premier League season.
Just when we were hoping for an equaliser, Dele Alli got Mauricio Pochettino's side a double. Lifting the ball over a stranded Cech. Afterwards Nketiah's shot hit the post while a cross from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck the woodwork and that waa it for the night. Spurs escaped with a 2-0 win as we were made to lament crashing out at such a crucial stage.
Four games already lost in all competitions this season. The first were two consecutive defeats in the hands of Manchester City and Chelsea in opening Premier League fixtures in August. After then we went twenty-two games unbeaten before fumbling at St. Mary's and then at our own very backyard on Wednesday night. We need to rise again! We have to!
Our neighbours will face Chelsea over two legs, Manchester City will play Burton and Arsenal will focus on other fronts. Burnley will visit the Emirates Stadium for our next Premier League game this weekend - one of four league games in eleven days.
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