The Gunners took the lead in the North London derby but were completely outplayed as Spurs won 2-1 thanks to Harry Kane's second-half double.

Harry Kane left the pitch after a spine-tingling lap of honor with "He’s one of our own" ringing around White Hart Lane. Tottenham’s local hero turned to the television camera and declared: “I love the North London derby.”

That sentiment will be shared by the Spurs dressing room and supporters after their 2-1 win to leapfrog bitter rival Arsenal in the Premier League table in a derby clash more one-sided than the scoreline and late winner suggest.

Arsene Wenger, though, will be feeling very different after his gameplan to win his 45th North London derby badly backfired, leaving the battle for a place in next season’s Champions League looking precarious for all sides involved.

Arsenal took the lead through Mesut Ozil’s fine 11th-minute volley but the Gunners can have no complaints with the result after being dominated throughout the match, overwhelmed by Tottenham’s intensity and physicality.

The Gunners tried to play in the same counterattacking style in which they won 2-0 at Manchester City last month in what was at the time interpreted as a watermark away victory for a side that has so often crumbled away from the Emirates Stadium. Yet this time it felt more like they were inviting pressure from Tottenham than defending in a solid, compact manner.

Spurs hammered away at the Arsenal goal, ending the game with 23 shots to Arsenal’s seven, while the hosts also had 56 percent possession as they constantly pushed forward on the front foot.
It needed some fine saves from goalkeeper David Ospina to keep out Kane, Danny Rose and Nabil Bentaleb to prevent Tottenham from scoring more and putting the game to bed long before the eventual 86th minute winner.

Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla, so important in recent weeks, were completely overrun by Bentaleb and Mason. The visitors could barely string two passes together before losing possession under pressure from a Tottenham player.

“We defended well but I don’t think we went forward enough,” Wenger said. “We looked dangerous but were we too focused on defending our goal? I think so. I think we also made too many technical mistakes because Tottenham put us under pressure in the middle of the park and we lost the ball.”

Kane typified that, as he has all year, with two goals to take his tally for the season to 22 in all competitions, 12 of those in the Premier League.
The first was a tap in at the back post after Arsenal failed to deal with a corner and Ospina flapped unconvincingly at a looping ball.

The winner, though, was special. Bentaleb swung in a cross from deep and Laurent Koscielny only stood and watched as Kane planted a fabulous header across goal from 12 yards.

Mauricio Pochettino is the 11th Spurs manager Wenger has come up against, but the Frenchman was out-thought by his opposite number as much as his players were outfought on the pitch.

While Spurs players were confrontational, Arsenal’s drifted through much of the game. The Gunners could not get away with it, not in the derby.
There were no leaders in the Arsenal side to see off the Tottenham attacks, to take the sting out of the home side and protect the lead. Not even for a minute did the visitors look comfortable in the entire game.

For Kane, the questions over whether he’ll be in Roy Hodgson’s next England squad — the Three Lions manager was watching in the stands — are pointless. The 21-year-old will be in the squad. The only question is whether he is in the starting lineup.
At the moment, though, he is living the dream as the local boy who won the derby. The most in-form striker in English football punished Arsenal’s cautious gameplan.

#source: goal.com