Defeat in the derby after first-half strikes - on-the-whistle report

Two first-half goals gave Arsenal the spoils in the north London derby at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

An own goal from Hugo Lloris coupled with a strike from Martin Odegaard put the them in control at half-time  and, although we created plenty of chances after the break with Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale making a string of fine saves, we couldn’t find a way back into the game, sending us to our fourth home defeat in our last five Premier League games.

In team news, Pape Matar Sarr came in for his first league start – the first Spurs player to do so in the north London derby since Ryan Mason in 2014. Antonio Conte made three changes from our last league game at Crystal Palace with Matar Sarr, Sessegnon and Dejan Kulusevski, who was returning from an injury lay-off, coming in for Oliver Skipp, Ivan Perisic and Bryan Gil, all of whom were on the bench. Richarlison also made his return from a spell on the sidelines as a 72nd-minute substitute.

There was danger as early as the seventh minute when Lloris saved from Eddie Nketiah after the captain had initially been closed down by Gabriel Martinelli as he went to clear, while the opening goal came on 14 minutes - Bukayo Saka’s low cross from the byline nicking off Ryan Sessegnon before hitting Lloris at his near post and spinning in.

Our best chance of the half came four minutes later. Heung-Min Son’s shot on the turn from 10 yards was well saved by Ramsdale before Arsenal came again. Lloris had to push away Odegaard’s drive, Thomas Partey crashed a stinging 20-yard volley against the post before they added to their tally on 36 minutes, Odegaard having time and space 25 yards from goal to pick out the bottom corner for 2-0.

We nearly had a response just before the break, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg swinging in a cross which Harry Kane met well but his header was turned away smartly by Ramsdale. And the opening minutes of the second period were all played in the Arsenal half as we started brightly – Dejan Kulusevski curling over, Kane testing Ramsdale with a fierce drive from the edge of the area and then the Gunners keeper stuck out a leg to prevent Ryan Sessegnon’s angled drive from finding the bottom corner.

Arsenal always carried a threat on the counter as we pushed forward and Lloris was called upon to make a good save to deny Nketiah from Granit Xhaka’s through ball. We applied some late pressure on the visitors’ goal, one goalmouth scramble ending with Ramsdale saving low down to his left from substitute Richarlison before Son’s deflected effort flew over the bar.

Reaction on SPURSPLAY

'Their keeper was the best player on the pitch'

Antonio Conte told SPURSPLAY afterwards: “For sure, I’m disappointed and I’m sorry for our fans because I know the importance of this game. It’s a tough day because we are talking about a bad result, about a loss. I think the performance was good because I think we started the game in the right way, in a strong way, but then we conceded a goal and after this, we had the opportunity to level the game with Sonny but the Arsenal keeper made a fantastic save and instead of going to 1-1, we conceded a second goal. The second goal could kill everybody, but instead I think we had a great reaction in the second half because we didn’t lose our heads. In this type of situation, the risk is to start to play, to lose the distance and to lose the balance and then instead of recovering the result, you risk conceding other goals. Instead, I think we created other chances to score. We were unlucky because after a few minutes, we had the chance to go 2-1. I think their keeper was the best player on the pitch today. That means that we tried to attack, we tried to create chances, but now we have to move on as we know that on Thursday we have another tough game against City.”

Highlights on SPURSPLAY

Match data

Goals: Arsenal – Lloris (OG) 14, Odegaard 36.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Romero, Sessegnon, Sarr, Dier; Arsenal – Martinelli, Gabriel.

Referee: Craig Pawson.

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Weather: Sunny intervals, moderate breeze, seven degrees.

Attendance: 61,870.