Kane the Hero as Tottenham Deals Arsenal Top Four Setback in Derby
A rampaging second half performance saw Tottenham clinch a 1-0 victory over Arsenal in a frenzied north London derby at Wembley Stadium.
After a first half devoid of attacking quality, a relentless Spurs side emerged from the half time break to wreak havoc on Arsenal as Harry Kane headed the home side to victory to boost their hopes of successive seasons in the Champions League, while inflicting a major blow on the Gunners' top four chances.
An unchanged Tottenham side from their dramatic draw with Liverpool last time out was met by an Arsenal XI with fresh legs injected into the middle of the park, with Jack Wilshere and Mohamed Elneny given the nod ahead of Aaron Ramsey and Alex Iwobi following their 5-1 rout over Everton.
A raucous crowd at the home of English football welcomed an intense and lively start from both sides who were eager to take advantage of space in-behind their opponents defensive line.
However, the tactical battle which unfolded in the early exchanges gave little in the way of clear cut chances to either side as a disciplined Arsenal outfit kept Tottenham at bay as the home side started to pile on the pressure.
While wayward passes from Henrikh Mkhitaryan scuppered Arsenal's early chances in the final third - as the Gunners finished the first term with no shots on target - Tottenham were invited to control the tempo and they managed to create the halves best opportunity as a result.
It took until the half hour mark to register the games first clear cut chance when Kane beat the offside trap to meet Christian Eriksen's whipped cross, but his headed effort flew over the crossbar from just six yards out.
While Spurs continued to send the ball into Arsenal's penalty area - albeit with a lack of purposeful intent - the visitors were able to hold firm and keep themselves in the hunt for all three points as the half ended with very little to talk about.
That soon changed within just four minutes of the second half, however, as Kane made no mistake with his second headed effort on goal when a sensational cross from Ben Davies saw the Premier League's leading goalscorer out jump his rivals to thunder the ball into the bottom corner.
After a first period void of chances on goal Tottenham were eager to make their presence known from the off as Kane had the chance to score a hat trick in the space of just five minutes.
Yet another cross into the box saw the striker ease his way in between the center-halves, only for the striker to steer his header agonizingly wide of the upright before he struck a powerful volley which, fortunately for Arsenal, was aimed straight at Petr Cech.
After over 20 minutes of unrelenting Tottenham dominance the Gunners had their first sight of goal after Wilshere's powerful curling effort required a rare intervention from Hugo Lloris.
However, the second half soon returned to normal programming as Tottenham kept their foot on the gas to pile the on the pressure which had Arsenal hanging on by a thread, with Dele Alli, Kieran Trippier and Erik Lamela all missing golden opportunities to double Spurs' lead.
The Gunners threw caution to the wind in the final few minutes of the game as Alexandre Lacazette had two glaring chances to steal a point at the death but his wayward finishing let Tottenham off the hook.
Tottenham must now front up for their Champions League last 16 trip to Juventus on Tuesday before facing Rochdale in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday, while Arsenal have both legs of their Europa League round of 32 tie with Östersunds to focus their attention on.
