Arsenal 2-0 Tottenham: Premier League highlights and recap

Arsenal's German defender Shkodran Mustafi (R) celebrates scoring his team's first goal with Arsenal's Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey (C) and Arsenal's Spanish defender Hector Bellerin during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium in London on November 18, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images) /

Arsenal beat Tottenham 2-0 at the Emirates on Saturday, Nov. 18. Here are all the highlights from the Premier League match.

Arsenal made a major statement in their push for the top four against Tottenham on Saturday, winning 2-0 thanks to first-half goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez. The Gunners moved up to fifth, only a point behind their north London rivals.

The match was a frantic, high-intensity contest with both sides pressing hard in midfield early on, but Arsenal, despite a lack of clear-cut chances, probably deserved their halftime lead for the way the forced Tottenham onto the back foot.

Eric Dier and Laurent Koscielny both made errors in the first 10 minutes, leading to the first chances of the match, relatively tame efforts from Harry Kane and Alezandre Lacazette, but until Mustafi’s opener, the match was played largely in a congested midfield third.

The goal wasn’t without controversy. Alexis Sanchez was awarded a free-kick after Davinson Sanchez was deemed to tug his shirt — if there was a tug, it was soft — and Mustafi was offside when he connected with Ozil’s delivery. It was a wonderful finish, but Tottenham were unfortunate.

Whether it should have counted or not, the goal led to a much more open game, and Arsenal capitalized soon after. Lacazette found space down the right and played in Sanchez, who appeared to waste the chance with a sloppy first touch but recovered to finish into the roof of the net.

Arsenal dropped off in the second half, playing more on the break through Sanchez, Lacazette and Ozil, but while Tottenham saw much more of the ball, they created relatively little. Questions will be asked about the fitness of Harry Kane and Dele Alli, after the pair sat out international duty with fitness problems, but the Gunners’ defense was excellent.

Spurs’ only clear-cut chance in the second half came in the 81st minute, when Eric Dier’s back-post header forced Petr Cech into an excellent, diving save. That it was his only notable save of the match, however, speaks to Arsenal’s quality in defense.

Highlights

Love this cheeky little finish from Alexis Sanchez. Only way he could score was to lift it high. #AFC #ARSTOT 🔴🔥pic.twitter.com/Y7dy18M1kR
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) November 18, 2017

Arsenal only moved up one place with the win, into fifth, but pulled within a point of third-place Tottenham. Both sides could move down in the table pending Chelsea and Liverpool’s results later in the day.

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