Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham: Mourinho on borrowed time; Tierney, Smith-Rowe and Lamela shine

Arsenal fought back from 1-0 down to beat Tottenham 2-1, with Spurs' Erik Lamela sent off late on having earlier scored what was surely one of the greatest goals in the fixture's history.

WATCH: Lamela's stunning 'Rabona' strike

But a goal from Martin Odegaard and a penalty from Alexandre Lacazette turned the game around.

Aside from the gap between the two rivals in the Premier League table now standing at just four points, what else did we learn?

Carabao Cup only thing keeping Mourinho in Spurs job

Three straight Premier League victories had raised hope at Tottenham that they could still finish in the top four this season, but this defeat means Mourinho's side are now six points behind Chelsea and the Champions League places.

Worse though, was this meek, rudderless performance, which revealed a lot about the direction Spurs are heading in.

Mourinho was hired by Tottenham to bring tangible success to the club in the form of silverware. Their season could still bring that, with Spurs set to face Manchester City in April’s Carabao Cup final, but this prospect of a first trophy in 13 years is the only thing keeping the Portuguese coach in a job right now despite there being little evidence his side will actually win that match.

Ordinarily, the Carabao Cup final would have been played in February, allowing Spurs to move on and potentially make a decision on Mourinho’s future before the final phase of the season. Its postponement until April has left Tottenham in managerial purgatory.

They're still in the Europa League too though, I suppose...

Smith Rowe is Arsenal’s creative future

The first half of Arsenal’s season was marked by a lack of creativity in the final third.

It wasn’t until Emile Smith Rowe’s emergence as a first team figure that the Gunners found some attacking invention and the 20-year-old added to his growing reputation with another impressive performance in the derby.

Smith Rowe created more chances (four) than anyone else during his 77 minutes on the pitch.

The last Arsenal player to carve out that many chances in a north London derby was Cesc Fabregas back in April 2007. Much like Fabregas, the Gunners can build around Smith Rowe as their creator-in-chief.

Many questioned how Odegaard and Smith Rowe could play in the same team after the former’s arrival on loan from Real Madrid in January, but the pair are intelligent enough to dovetail and interchange through the midfield and into attack.

Odegaard might only be on loan until the end of the season, but Smith Rowe is a generational talent for Arsenal.

Lamela’s ‘Rabona’ proof Spurs rely on individual brilliance

Along with David Bentley’s looping volley and Thierry Henry’s famous dribble and finish, Lamela’s sensational ‘Rabona’ goal will go down in north London derby folklore.

But the opener came directly against the run of play and was yet more proof of Tottenham’s reliance on individual brilliance from their attackers. Lamela’s goal was Spurs’ only shot, on or off target, in the first half.

In the opening 15 minutes, Bukayo Saka, Kieran Tierney, Cedric Soares, Granit Xhaka and Lacazette all charted seven or more touches of the ball in the final third.

What is expected goals (xG)?

• Expected goals (xG) is a metric that measures the quality of any given scoring opportunity
• Expected goals for (xGF) is the xG created by a team
• Expected goals against (xGA) is xG conceded by a team

Tottenham, in contrast, made just seven touches in the final third as a team in the same period.

At half-time, Arsenal’s Expected Goals (xG) stood at 0.89 while Spurs’ was at 0.06, starkly illustrating the balance of play.

Mourinho has faced criticism for a lack of attacking structure and this performance did little to quell that criticism. In fact, it only provided more evidence to support it.

Tierney now among Premier League’s best full-backs

If Arsenal were going to score in the first half, it was always likely to come from a move down the left wing and so it proved as Tierney set up Odegaard for the equaliser.

The Scot now has two goals and three assists in his last nine starts in all competitions and deserves to be considered among the Premier League’s best full-backs.

Arteta recognised Matt Doherty’s weakness at defending one-on-one, and the likelihood that Gareth Bale would leave his teammate exposed by refusing to track back, and so deployed Tierney even higher up the pitch than normal.

With support from Smith Rowe, most of Arsenal’s attacks came down the left.

In this form, Tierney deserves to be in the starting lineup over Scotland captain Andy Robertson for Euro 2020, rather than squeezed in out of position as one of three centre-backs.

Along with Joao Cancelo and Luke Shaw, the 23-year-old is playing as well as any other full back in the Premier League right now. He was one of the biggest differences between the two north London rivals in this derby.

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