DELE ALLI AND Harry Kane kept Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League title hunt as their side torpedoed Arsenal 2-0 in White Hart Lane’s last north London derby on Sunday.
Leaders Chelsea extended their advantage to seven points by winning 3-0 at Everton earlier in the day, but Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs cut the gap back to four points with a thrilling display.
The two goals arrived within 146 seconds of each other in the second half, Alli polishing off a rebound and Kane netting a penalty to take their respective goal tallies to 17 and 21 for the campaign.
Spurs will finish above Arsenal for the first time since 1995, ending 22 years of “St Totteringham’s Day” — the day marked by Arsenal fans when their team can no longer be overtaken by their local rivals.
Spurs will play at Wembley next season before moving into their new stadium — which is being built on the site of their current home — in August 2018.
They have now won nine league games in succession and prevailed in 13 successive league matches at home within the same season for the first time.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s 50th north London derby ended in a fifth defeat in six away games, leaving his side six points off the Champions League slots in sixth place.
Arsenal retain a game in hand, however, and their disappointment was mitigated by the fact top-four rivals Manchester City and Manchester United both dropped points earlier in the day.
Laurent Koscielny shook off a knee injury to take his place in an Arsenal back three that swiftly found itself under examination.
It took the hosts less than a minute to register a shot on target, Kane working Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech at his near post after Alli hooked the ball on.
Toby Alderweireld headed wide from an Christian Eriksen corner and Ben Davies saw a cross deflected into the side-netting by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain before Alli spurned a gilt-edged chance.
Kane’s shot from the right flicked up off Koscielny and looped towards the back post, but with the goal at his mercy — and under pressure from Oxlade-Chamberlain — Alli nodded wide from point-blank range.
- Cech acrobatics -
Three minutes later another chance went begging.
After nutmegging Oxlade-Chamberlain, Son Heung-Min dispatched a shot that fell kindly for Eriksen, but from seven yards out and with the net gaping, his left-volley clipped the crossbar.
The half ended with Cech scrambling to turn a low Jan Vertonghen effort behind, but prior to that Arsenal had threatened to land a sucker-punch.
Aaron Ramsey obliged Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to palm a curling attempt wide, while Kieran Gibbs slashed over and Alexis Sanchez billowed an effort off-target.
The pattern continued in the second half, Cech saving from Victor Wanyama and Kane and Son hitting the side-netting from the corner that followed Wanyama’s effort.
Olivier Giroud provided a moment of alarm by volleying over at an Arsenal corner, but in the 55th minute Spurs’ pressure told.
After jinking into the six-yard box, Eriksen was thwarted by Cech, but Alli followed up to slide in the rebound, with Oxlade-Chamberlain completely miscuing an attempted goal-line clearance.
The Lane was rocking and three minutes later the home fans had a second goal to cherish.
Kane drew a clumsy swipe from Gabriel and then wrong-footed Cech with an emphatic, drilled penalty into the bottom-left corner.
Arsenal looked to respond, Giroud and Sanchez shooting tamely at Lloris, before Danny Welbeck and Hector Bellerin were pitched into the fray from the bench.
But Spurs continued to look the more likely scorers and it was only because of Cech’s acrobatics that they failed to run away with the game.
The former Chelsea goalkeeper produced flying saves to deny Vertonghen and Alderweireld and raced out smartly to thwart Kane, who also headed into the side-netting.
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The score doesn’t even sum up the match, Spurs should have been up by more. Delighted with the win, North London is lilywhite. COYS!!
@AM: COYS
Tottenham are well and truly the kings of North London. Arsenal have been dethroned.
@SuzukaYuiMoa: and still right there with chance of being kings of PL. COYS !!
@SuzukaYuiMoa: I support neither team, but I don’t see how.
City may have a better team, but they aren’t the Kings of Manchester….
Considerably the better team…outstanding performance from Czech savings Arsenal from a hiding..
Spurs on a different level than Arsenal nowadays-we’re out before Chelsea next weekend, got to continue to apply pressure, you never know….
@Baz: Totally agree, we win and it’s 1pt. It’s amazing what pressure does. The fat lady may be clearing her throat but she ain’t singing yet.
Sweet victory but quiet on here usual spurs articles full of gooner mugs. As a lifelong spurs fan that was one of our most dominant NL performances could easy been 3 or 4-0 #wengerin
@Drogspur: I’ve been putting up with their taunts for years, born about 3 miles from WHL with lots of Woolwich friends / colleagues. We needed this monkey off our back, coys!!!
Also guaranteed CL next year, that’s even bigger IMO as a Spurs fan.
@Stephen Duggan: afraid not. If Spurs lose all their games and city and united win all theirs, and united win all theirs 6-0 then Spurs will finish fifth. ;)
@Stephen Duggan: being done via a game (the last NLD at WHL) against Arsenal denting their slim CL hopes while simultaneously guaranteeing a finish above them and keeping the pressure on Chelski it makes it all the sweeter though doesn’t it?
@FPL Thommo: Oh my!!! Never thought of that ;)
@Ronnie Pickering: When you put it like that……. HELL YEAH!!!!
Pity there’s no trophy for finishing above arsenal they could dust the cabinet down
@paddy: Arsenal sure treated it as a trophy the last decade or so.
Spurs Dominant today gulf in class evident by the league table showed between the two sides today. no heart from Arsenal players never looked like they wanted it and the fans blame the manager?
@Ronnie Pickering: it was only ever a sideshow for arsenal fans anyway look i dont begrudge them their “success” and ill have no problem admitting theyre the bigger club when they lift their 14th league title and 13th fa cup sure who could argue with that?
No st totteringham day this year.
@funkytown: Or CL Football LOL
Not that it will happen but adding Bale to that spurs side would make for a very exciting next season..
@Dave Fingleton: well if its not going to happen and its not why would you say it ? If me aunt had balls blah blah
@paddy: yep. Not going to happen. If Arsenal players had balls they might not have gotten the schooling they got today…blah..blah..blah..
@Dave Fingleton: Yeah it would. As would adding Lionel Messi to Arsenal’s team…
@Dave Fingleton: yeah sure why not throw in messi and griezman for the crack ffs it’s close but I don’t know why the spud fans are so excited Chelsea’s win today was the better of the two and 3 of there last 4 games are at home and they only need the 3 wins.
Do you have to mention youre a life long fan every time you come on anyway if its true even i couldnt begrudge you finishing above arsenal once every twenty years or so
@paddy: butt hurt, are we?
New manager next season Arsenal will be back
@Aidan O connor: Wenger has signed da ting.
@Aidan O connor: As a Spurs fan it’s my fervent wish that Wenger will be Arsenal manager next season.