Mauricio Pochettino and his young Tottenham team dominated the North London Derby on Sunday. The home team certainly made a huge statement, letting Arsenal know about the shift of power in North London, beating the Gunners 2-0. After Chelsea's win earlier, they had to collect three points to remain in the title race and that's exactly what they did.
Tottenham got the derby underway and given how impressive Pochettino and his players have been this season, it came as no surprise to see them dominate early parts of this game.
It was all Tottenham for the first 25 minutes of the match as they completely dominated possession and did not give Arsenal any time to settle into the game. The first chance of match came in the second minute and it fell for Harry Kane, who dribbled his way into the Arsenal box and fired a low shot onto goal but Petr Cech saved it.
Five minutes later, Christian Eriksen sent a cross onto the near post and Toby Alderweireld's header went just over the Arsenal goal. The chances kept coming for Tottenham as the match progressed and Dele Alli should have given them the lead in the 22nd minute.
The youngster had an easy chance to get the opening goal after Kane broke through Arsenal's offside trap and sent a cross in, which deflected off Nacho Monreal, and he tried to head the ball but failed get a good connection with it.
Arsenal slowly managed to get into the game after the half an hour mark and it led to a half chance for Aaron Ramsey. Mesut Ozil found the Welshmen outside the Tottenham box but he did not get a good connection with his shot.
Arsenal finally started to pose more of a threat to Tottenham's defence and Hugo Lloris as Ramsey fired a curling shot to the far post but the Tottenham keeper made a good diving save. Arsenal got two more chances towards the end of the first half, first from Ramsey and then Alexis Sanchez.
Ramsey collected a clever pass from Sanchez but his shot deflected for a corner. The ball landed at the feet of Sanchez from that resulting corner and the Chilean tried to curl one into the far post but his shot was too wide.
Tottenham started the second half as they did the first with lots of quick passing and it finally paid off. They got two quick goals within three minutes. Alli teed up Eriksen and the Dane shot but his shot was saved by the Arsenal keeper but the ball then fell straight onto the path of Alli who made no mistake in putting it inside the net.
Things got worse for Arsenal after Gabriel fouled Kane inside the penalty box minutes later. The England international made no mistake from the spot kick and fired his shot into the bottom left hand corner to make it 2-0.
Arsenal were keen to respond, as Olivier Giroud tried his luck from inside the Tottenham box. He dribbled his way past a few Spurs players but he shot straight at Lloris. Sanchez had the next chance three minutes later but his low shot was straight at Lloris.
Just like the first half, Arsenal struggled to deal with Tottenham's attack and Jan Vertonghen could have put the game to bed in the 68th minute. The Belgian fired a thunderous shot but Cech saved it. A minute later Kane hit the outside of the post from a header after Eriksen sent a beautiful cross inside the box.
The final 20 minutes of the game did not see a lot of being created from either team but Tottenham remained in control as they ensured their two-goal lead did not slip away. Towards the end of the match, Theo Walcott had a chance to pull a goal back but he fired his shot straight at Lloris.
Tottenham, with this impressive win, remain only four points behind league leaders Chelsea.
Check out the complete highlights from the North London Derby right here.
