LONDON – It's always fun to evaluate the players between Tottenham and Arsenal, and Sunday's matchup was no exception.
Arsenal led 3-0 at half-time thanks to an own goal and work from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz, but Mikel Arteta's side were relentless and Tottenham scored in the second half through Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min. He succeeded in winning the match. 3-2 at the end.
[ MORE: Spurs 2-3 Arsenal analysis, highlights ]
However, the Gunners held on to an important win, retaining their lead at the top of the Premier League and putting pressure back on Manchester City.
Below are all the Tottenham vs Arsenal player ratings, 10-point scores and analysis.
Tottenham player ratings
Guglielmo Vicario:6 – Made a few big stops. You couldn't blame him for Arsenal's goal. He struggled from a corner as Arsenal chipped in.
Pedro Polo: 6 – Did his best to keep Leandro Trossard quiet and, as usual, go forward and drive in crosses. However, the quality of his crosses was not good.
Cristian Romero: 8 – Finished calmly, hit the post with a header, should have had another header and was generally involved in everything. I jumped into a lot of challenges and set the tone.
mickey van de ven: 7 – Scored a disallowed goal and used his pace on several occasions to save Spurs from trouble when Arsenal counter-attacked. Could he have headed Havertz's goal clear?
ben davis: 4 – I was given a terrible time by Saka. Davis was battered and all Spurs can do is ask him to play as a centre-back in Ange's system.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: 5 – Worked hard but failed to make an impact on the game after his surprise participation. Rice & Company was too good for him.
Rodrigo Bentancur: 3 – Performed very poorly and hooked out at half time. Spurs lacked defensive balance as they did not have enough control of the ball and allowed Arsenal's midfielders to rush forward.
Dejan Kulusevski: 6 – Worked hard on the right side and in the center. He created some big chances and always made direct runs.
james madison: 4 – Probably one of his worst games in a Tottenham shirt. Arsenal attacked him hard throughout the match, giving him the ball several times.
Timo Werner: 5 – Submitted after 31 minutes due to injury. After that, we couldn't do much in the first 30 minutes.
son heung min: 5 – Most of the game was virtually anonymous, except for the penalty kick that he smashed home. Just before half-time, he had a great chance to go wide over the bar.
substitute
Brennan Johnson (replaced by Werner): 5 – Wasted a lot of good crossing chances.
Pape Matar Sarr (played 46 minutes for Bentancur): 6 – Worked hard and was brave on the ball.
Yves Bissouma (64 minutes for Hojbjerg): 6 – Successfully regained control of the midfield.
Richarlison (64 minutes for Maddison): 6 – Added a spark to Spurs' attack late on, causing Arsenal some anxiety.
Extended HL: Tottenham vs Arsenal Match Week 35
Relive the five-goal thriller between Arsenal and Tottenham in the North London derby. The derby saw the Gunners take another step towards the title race with a nail-biting victory over Spurs in Matchweek 35.
Arsenal player ratings
david raya: 5 – Made a terrible mistake with Romero's goal and took some risks here and there. He also made good crosses.
ben white: 7 – Great entertainment on set pieces where he helped cause chaos. He defended Werner and Johnson well.
William Saliba:7 – A solid display as he seemed calm amidst all the craziness going on.
Gabriel: 7 – see above. What a partnership they had, as Son had no kick.
Takehiro Tomiyasu: 5 – Kulusevski was distraught throughout. There are some sloppy passes as well.
Martin Odegaard: 6 – Barely touched in the first half, took a shot late in the second half. Although he wasn't able to participate in the game as much as he usually does, he continued to buzz.
thomas party: 7 – Breaked up the play well and made some decent passes to push Arsenal forward. Justified his participation in such a big game.
Declan Rice: 7 – Dominated in midfield for the most part, but made a poor and tired challenge giving away a penalty kick to set up a tense finish.
Bukayo Saka: 9 – Sublime. His goal was very successful. He put in some great crosses and took a lot of hits.
Kai Havertz: 9 – Scored a goal and moved around with great movement and brave hold-up play. What a few months he's had.
Leandro Trossard: 6 – Played hard on the left, but couldn't make a big impact on the game.
substitute
Gabriel Martinelli (trossard 63rd minute): 5 – No service at all and struggled to get into the match.
Jakub Kiviol (played in Odegaard 89'): Not applicable
