Arsenal reignite title bid after Trossard completes fightback against Spurs
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Arsenal could feel the heat. Back-to-back home losses in the domestic cups had seen to that. One has pushed them to the brink of elimination in the Carabao Cup, ahead of the semi-final second leg at Newcastle. The other on penalties against Manchester United in the FA Cup was terminal.
![[Son Heung-min releases the shot that put Tottenham ahead.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/05af0a6d0be3e2f6c9590662d7a953352a19d1d2/0_120_2907_1744/master/2907.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Mikel Arteta’s team could also sense opportunity. Liverpool’s draw at Nottingham Forest had seen to that. And so the equation was pretty clear. Manage the occasion against the team they most love to hate. And win to move to within four points of Liverpool at the top, albeit having played an extra game.
![[Gabriel of Arsenal celebrates scoring his team’s first goal to make it 1-1 against Tottenham.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6ccb3cd1c72d412a569f31f638c3f6e02c923f5a/0_0_4581_3054/master/4581.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
There would be a blip when Tottenham, whose recent Premier League form is an embarrassment, went in front through the captain, Son Heung-min. What a tonic it was for them and for him, as he negotiates a personally trying season. But the overall thrust of things was Arsenal pushing out their chests and asserting themselves. They would gain control with a devastating one- two punch before the interval. First they forced a Dominic Solanke own goal on a corner; their 27th in the league since the start of last season, the 10th of the current campaign. And then Leandro Trossard found a way through Antonin Kinsky’s hands; a nightmare moment for the new Spurs goalkeeper.
Spurs simply did not do enough in the second half; they barely threatened en route to another league defeat – their sixth in nine games. Ange Postecoglou keeps on explaining them away. Arsenal are looking up. It was quite the scene before kick-off, fireworks exploding and the Arsenal support unfurling a giant tifo: London is red. The home team tore into Spurs from the first whistle, refusing to give them an inch, forcing turnovers high up. And winning corners and free-kicks in wide areas. Kinsky was subjected to an exacting initial test.
