Alex Lacazette picked himself off the turf to score a winning penalty as Arsenal came from behind to beat 10-man Sp*rs in the North London derby at the Emirates.
Despite being completely dominant, the Gunners fell behind to Erik Lamela’s clever rabona finish but we bounced back to equalise just before the break thanks to Martin Odegaard’s deflected effort.
Sanchez’s foul on Lacazette just past the hour mark set Mikel Arteta’s side on the path to victory before Lamela got himself sent off for two bookable offences.
After the game, the Frenchman spoke to Sky Sports. Here’s what he had to say…
On scoring the winner…
It’s amazing. We wanted to win this game for us and as well for the fans. Even if we missed them in the stadium, it was really important for us to win the derby.
On a stressful final 10 minutes…
It was really stressful. This is our problem when we are winning, we have some problems to manage the game at the end even 11 [men] against 10. This is where we have to improve a lot. At the end, we won, we need to appreciate the three points and think about Thursday [against Olympiacos].
On the importance of seeing out the game…
Yeah, of course. It was really important to win this kind of game. For us, it’s really good for the rest of the season.
On the penalty…
We were lucky to get the penalty, I think. Sometimes it’s good for us to have a good decision from the ref. I scored, so I’m happy.
On how he felt before taking the penalty…
A bit stressful because back in the day I taken a lot of penalties against him. I was quite confident. We have to be confident when you shoot a penalty and today, I’m happy.
On when he learnt he was playing instead of Auba…
Just at the same time. The coach tells us that everyone’s going to play because we play every three days. Obviously, it’s not easy to stay on the bench in big games but it’s a part of football. I don’t think there was anything against Auba, it’s just a decision of the coach. I will let you ask him about it. I don’t think there was anything wrong with this.
It was great to get the 3 points today.
Laca had a weird game (e.g. letting the ball run in the box), lack of game time maybe, he wasn’t sharp.
Yes, his net performance was positive but fuck me he can be frustrating to watch.
I love Lacazette, enough to have his name on a shirt, but his finishing and decision making has always been suspect.
Dodged a bullet today.
Good fight from laca. Auba’s discipline issue a blessing in disguise.
Very proud of the way we played till the Lamela red card. We played with hunger and focus. After the red card it was like watching another team. I know Willian came on, but everyone was fk*ing up. Just not good enough at this level to be so poor. We had an extra player and it felt like we had 2 red cards. Need to improve!!!
Agree Xhaka, Partey and Gabriel all gave away free kicks in dangerous areas which we were almost punished from. The mood on here could have been very different. Fine margins at the moment.
You hit the nail ‘Until Willian came on’. Also I want to give credit to Luiz. He played a calm , experienced game defending and distributing.
Not the most verbose our Laca. You can see he hates interviews – that said I love the guy.
Interesting he recognised game management as a major issue. It was a bit mental. We dominated the game against 11 but when they went to 10 we forgot how to keep the ball.
Also the spuds are shit and only started playing all out when they went to 10 because they had nothing to lose.
Also no sense from him that Arteta had been wrong to drop his best mate.
I wonder if Auba keeps the captaincy after whatever went down
If it was only for being late, I would think so.
Brave, brave call from Arteta. I fucking respect that.
This was a massively important win. Had we lost today it would have been hugely damaging to morale for the remainder of the season. Well played lads, well fucking played!
We just need more consistent and consecutive wins from this squad. Hope Bukayo is alright.
It baffles me why Arteta did not give the real reason Aubamayang was missing. He was obviously saving him for a big game.
Dude this is a big game
Cue some sarcasm
He meant saving him for a game against a top opponent.
No, sir, nothing wrong with it at all!
Certainly positive first half and into second half with us dominating control. Two shots on bar and post, ESR energetic running the difference. When he came off (and Willian on) it felt like we were down a man instead of them. Plenty to improve last 15 minutes with panicky silly football from us culminating with Partey giving away an unnecessary free kick which led to Kane hitting the post and Gabriel clearing the subsequent rebound shot. But if we can work out how to play the way we did in first half (even without Auba), get a bit more clinical… Read more »
Good news is we have a fresh Auba for the next game..assuming he wakes up on time
Laca was a Beast in front, he is the Best striker we have
Mr lacazette please when you finish this your unsavoury and massively underwhelming half measured mediocre career with arsenal please make it grand by scoring 20 this season cos most of us can’t wait for it to end…