Tottenham claimed pre-season bragging rights over their bitter north London rivals with a 1-0 win in Hong Kong.
Despite both sides creating chances, the looked set to enter the halfway point goalless before a moment of magic from Pape Matar Sarr.
The 22-year-old netted a stunning effort from 45 yards to catch David Raya off his line and put Thomas Frank’s side into the lead on the brink of half time.
The Gunners pushed for an equaliser following the restart but even the first glimpse of Viktor Gyokeres in an Arsenal shirt following his high-profile move wasn’t enough to get them back into the game.
Just days after being unveiled to Gunners fans, the Swedish striker endured a quiet afternoon after coming off the bench as Spurs held on to secure victory.
NICK CALLOW analysed the game to bring you the seven things we learned from the first north London derby to be staged outside of the UK.
Pape Matar Sarr netted a stunning long-range goal as Tottenham defeated Arsenal in Hong Kong
The Senegalese midfielder opened the scoring by chipping David Raya on the brink of half time
Sarr from the halfway line
Arsenal wanted tests and not friendlies in all of their matches here. They will not have been disappointed as sets of players got stuck.
The only surprise was only one first-half yellow card for Rodrigo Bentancur for a revenge foul on Bukayo Saka.
Arsenal were less impressed with Hong Kong referee Lau Fong Hei who missed a sneaky trip from behind on the rapidly breaking Myles Lewis-Skelly which allowed Pape Matar Sarr the time and space to shoot and score a cracker from inside the centre circle.
It was made worse when the foul and the goal was replayed on the big screen as Sarr ran to celebrate his brilliant strike and third goal in three games in front of the Arsenal supporters and embarrassed Arsenal keeper David Raya, once again caught off his line.
The first North London derby staged outside the UK had a real edge.
Gunners’ injury concerns
Still no sign of Gabriel in the Arsenal squad as he battles back from hamstring surgery in April. Arsenal have two more pre-season matches to get him fit to face Manchester United on 17 August. It’s a worry.
In other defensive concerns, Jurrien Timber has not resumed full training this summer and Richy Calafiori is nursing yet another ‘niggle.’
Of worry for Tottenham was Dominic Solanke’s absence – again. The star Spurs striker started against Reading earlier this month but missed the ensuing matches against Wycombe and Luton.
He did train here on Tuesday night but was not even on the bench against Arsenal. He will hope to play a part in Sunday’s match against Newcastle United, in Korea.
Gabriel was left out of the Arsenal squad as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury
Fans get behind debuting Gyokeres
The biggest cheers of the night came two substitutes: Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres and Tottenham’s Son Heung-min.
This represented a debut appearance for the Swedish striker and there were more than a few Gunners fans at the stadium sporting the new red and and white kit with his name and the iconic NO.14 on the back. The hype is real.
’Sonny’ was the player all local Spurs fans wanted to see so the fact he started as a sub would indicate he will be sent out for a start in Korea at the weekend. Both came on with 15 minutes to go at a time when Spurs were hanging on and Arsenal were struggling to turn their possession into shots on target.
Neither made much of an impact after all that!
Viktor Gyokeres received a warm ovation from the fans in attendance but struggled to impact the game after coming on as a sub
Packed house in Hong Kong
Arsenal played in front of relatively small crowds for their matches against AC Milan and Newcastle in Singapore, but this was a 50,000 sell-out in Hong Kong.
Both clubs reportedly received a £2m fee just for this match, with promotional fees coming in on top.
Overall, both clubs will have travelled over 15,000 miles by the time they get back to north London, and both can hope to have netted well in excess of £10m with future even more lucrative commercial deals also now in the pipeline.
Georgson works his magic
Tottenham finally have a set-piece coach in former Arsenal man Andreas Georgson and instantly looked the better for it.
They successfully fended off two new-look Arsenal corners early on and hit a post from their first dead ball. In a move that seemed to mirror Arsenal’s successful tactics of last season, they packed the far post and Pedro Porro curled it their way, dangerously coming off the woodwork.
David Raya also looked panicked at the next one, which also hit a post. Maybe Ange Postecoglou should have taken a leaf out of Arsenal’s coaching manual too.
Havertz has a point to prove
Fit again, Arsenal forward Kai Havertz perhaps has the most to fear following the signing of Gyokeres.
He finished last season injured and still as their leading scorer on nine Premier League goals and 15 overall. That might not cut it now Arteta has a proper goal-scoring alternative.
Havertz battled away and led the line well but his shooting was not overly impressive before he was subbed for Big Vik. The Super Swede had one missed glancing header and did not get to have a single shot on goal in his 15 minute debut.
Kudos for Kudus
Tottenham’s star midfield signing, Mohammed Kudus, already looks made for this Thomas Frank side.
The Ghana international offers a threat lacking in the Tottenham squad of last season and pressed as well as he got forward. Tottenham’s pressing all round was well coordinated, supported by a generally resilient defensive performance.
If Thomas Frank can consistently make them tighter at the back, post more of a threat going forward than they did in this match and be generally more robust, they could be in for a better season than last.
They look harder to beat at least.
