The battle between the master and the student in last weekend’s Super Sunday fixture saw Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal overcome Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and go joint-top with their arch-nemesis in the English Premier League table in 2023/2024. The Gunners put an end to their 12-game losing streak against the Cityzens in the league by scoring a late winner at their home of Emirates, while Ange Postecoglou’s 10-man Tottenham Hotspur defeated newly promoted side Luton Town in their own Matchday 8 fixture to ensure both North London sides are now the joint-top teams over 18 other clubs in English top-flight football.
Martinelli Halted City’s 12-Game Winning Streak Against Gunners
Prior to this game that saw his men go joint-top at the English Premier League table, Arteta made three changes to his starting 11 that was edged past by French Ligue 1 side RC Lens in the UEFA Champions League, whereas his old master Guardiola also made the similar number of alterations to his first squad that defeated RB Leipzig in their own European club football competition. Pep of course had a superior advantage over Gunners as the manager of Manchester City, since his side has won all 12 and remained unbeaten in their last 15 Premier League encounters against the North London side.
Arsenal and Manchester City were the top two teams in last season’s English Premier League, but it was the Gunners that displayed better attacking play against their visitors and finally drew first blood in the 86th minute in this Super Sunday fixture, courtesy of Gabriel Martinelli’s goal. Substitute Thomas Partey fired a long ball into the opponents’ half to find another replacement Takehiro Tomiyasu, who then headed a pass to Kai Havertz. The German had insufficient room to make a shot, which is why he set up Martinelli for his effort. The 22-year-old Brazilian hit it first time and had his kick deflected off defender Nathan Aké, before it ending in the back of the net.
The strike was Martinelli’s first in 2023/2024, and his inaugural tally of the season came at an important time for Arsenal. Apart from allowing his team to go joint-top in the league table and penning a stop to Arsenal’s 15-game winless run against Guardiola’s Manchester City, Martinelli’s effort also gave the Cityzens the second of their back-to-back losses in the league, having also lost the previous weekend’s Matchday 7 encounter against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium. Pep’s men definitely wished they had central defensive midfielder from Spain Rodri in both league matches.
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Van de Ven’s Tottenham’s Hero
Let us now turn our attention to Arsenal‘s North London arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Luton Town with their own 1-0 victory a day before the Arsenal-Manchester City game and went joint-top with the Gunners in the English Premier League table.
Postecoglou’s side were forced to play with 10 men for the entire second half, after 27-year-old central defensive midfielder from the Ivory Coast Yves Bissouma was sent off in the 45+4th minute of the game. The no. 8 player for Spurs had a challenge against Luton Town winger Chiedozie Ogbene being penalised in the 38th minute, before his dive around Luton Town’s penalty box moments later prompted referee to give Bissouma his second yellow card in the game.
However, just when everyone thought Spurs would struggle after play was resumed in the following 45 minutes, the 10-man visitors went 1-0 up in the 52nd minute. Tottenham’s quick corner allowed Dejan Kulusevski to connect with his teammate James Maddison, followed by the England international’s moments of sheer brilliance in the dangerous box. His quick feet danced through the penalty box, before setting up Dutch centre-back Micky van de Ven to score. The 22-year-old’s first goal for Spurs proved to be the winner against Luton Town, propelling Spurs to go joint-top of the league table.
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North London Pride: Joint-Top in the League Table
After eight rounds of league games in the 2023/2024 English top-flight football, both North London outfits Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are now joint-top of the league table at the moment. Coincidentally, the Gunners and Spurs not only collected their joint-top 20 points via six victories and two draws each, their goal differences thus far are also +10 and they had won four of their previous five league matches, with the last third matches being draws.
When asked about this joint-top achievement thus far this season, Postecoglou, who had not managed an English Premier League club until this 2023/2024 season with Tottenham Hotspur, played down his side’s performances and encouraged his team to maintain the momentum and continue to improve their plays in upcoming days, before he could leave a concrete comment on the results. He said: “We haven’t achieved anything. All we’ve done is lay some really good foundations. Our goals and ambitions lay in improvement. Can we play better, can we become a better team? If we do that then we’ll see where that takes us.”
Are There Any Ways to Read the Latest Football News or Check Football Match Livescores?
The joint-top teams in the Premier League table Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur will be taking a one-week off for the second international break of the 2023/2024 Season, before they travelled to Stamford Bridge to face London nemesis Chelsea and host another London club Fulham at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for Matchday 9 of the league competition respectively.
If you want to stay updated about these international and club football games, then you can pay close attention to https://www.wclivestream.net/ for the latest news in addition to browsing these amazing livescore websites at the comfort of your laptop or mobile device.
