Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal. Premier League.
Wembley StadiumAttendance83,222.
Saturday 10 February 2018 23:01, UK
Harry Kane was the scourge of Arsenal again as his fine second-half header gave Tottenham a 1-0 victory in the north London derby at Wembley.
Kane's 101st Premier League goal came from a superb towering header from 10 yards after 49 minutes from Ben Davies' cross, his seventh goal in seven league games against Arsenal.
Spurs had a flurry of chances to add a second as Kane headed just wide, Christian Eriksen hit the woodwork from a free-kick and both Erik Lamela and Dele Alli spurned one-on-one opportunities.
Alexandre Lacazette missed a fine last-gasp chance for Arsenal, but the result means the Gunners have not beaten Spurs away from home in five attempts. Spurs go up to third, four points behind second-place Man Utd.
During a first half lacking in opportunities, Kane came closest with a free header inside the area, nodding over Petr Cech's bar, before Spurs came out firing after the break.
In front of a record Premier League attendance, Kane made amends for his earlier miss within four minutes, towering above Laurent Koscielny from Davies' left-wing cross to head superbly into the bottom left corner past Cech.
Kane came close with another header moments later, glancing wide in acres of space, before his fierce volley from 18 yards was beaten away well by Cech.
Spurs were fully on top when Eriksen's free-kick from the edge hit the bar via the outstretched hand of Cech, while Arsenal created a rare opportunity at the other end as Jack Wilshere's curling effort from 20 yards forced a fine save from Hugo Lloris.
Alli was put through on goal by Erik Lamela with 20 minutes remaining, but poked inches wide of goal as Cech came rushing out, and Cech then did well to block Lamela's effort while one-on-one at an acute angle.
The onslaught continued as Cech beat away Kieran Trippier's half-volley at the far post, and as full-time approached, Lamela dragged an effort wide from an angle after again being found free behind a lacklustre Arsenal defence.
Arsenal did have two last-gasp opportunities, but sub Lacazette first blazed over on the volley from 12 yards, before poking just wide after drifting behind the Spurs defenders.
Who else? He's been the top performer in this derby several times, and Kane came up trumps once again at Wembley.
His header was superb - head and shoulders above Laurent Koscielny - while Arsenal's appeals for a foul were waved away by Anthony Taylor.
Kane could, and perhaps should, have a hat-trick to his name, but his all-round forward play in the second half allowed Spurs to open up their opponents with ease.
Mauricio Pochettino: "If we analyse the 90 minutes the team played so well. In the second half, the first 25, 30 minutes we played amazing football, created a lot of chances and we had the capacity to push them and create many more chances. It was an amazing game. Our players deserve the full credit and I would like to congratulate them. Now we must keep going."
Arsene Wenger: "This was, of course, a game we couldn't afford to lose. That makes it (the top four) difficult now, but as long as we have a mathematical chance we have to fight. There was more at stake than just a derby, I said that before the game and that's why it's so disappointing to lose a game the way we lost it."
Spurs now go to Juventus on Tuesday in their Champions League last 16 first leg, while Arsenal are in Sweden to face Ostersund in their Europa League round of 32 first-leg clash on Thursday evening.
