Olivier Giroud, 23rd Minute. 1-0

It only took 23 minutes for Arsenal to take the lead in the North London Derby against Tottenham; some said it was against the run of play, but any goal like this shouldn’t be criticised. The Gunners have picked up their form in the recent weeks, and great team goals like this one finished by Olivier Giroud are undoubtedly the reason for that improvement. Let’s take a deeper look at how the Gunners grabbed an early lead.

For the first aspect of this goal, it’s pretty imperative that you see the .gif instead of just a screenshot, as you can see just how important Per Mertesacker’s tackle is to this goal. Nacer Chadli had eyes for the box and a shot on goal, but it was the big German who stepped up and won the ball cleanly. Not only is this play integral in stopping an attack, but it allows for Arsenal to start their own. Like a fantastic counter attack, their midfielders can shuffle their feet, turn around, and being the attack the other way. At the end of this gif you can see five Spurs attackers – with just one striker to their formation, this means that only one of their midfielders are left in their best position to defend. Arsenal’s midfield takes full advantage of just that.

One thing I’ll emphasize throughout the entirety of this goal is positioning. Arsenal’s midfield positioning and choices are superb, and here is the first of said choices. Both Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere collapsed to stop Spurs’ attack, but have begun to push back up. Ramsey, here, has gone farther forward that Wilshere instead of staying side-by-side. This allows for Arsenal’s other attackers (Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky) to not have to drop down, slow the game, and come get the ball. Instead it is coming to them.

Here we see that Wilshere got the ball up to Santi Cazorla. Cazorla now has choices for his next move. He can keep pushing the momentum, and lay the ball off back to Wilshere, but then the likes of Emmanuel Capoue could probably pressure him and force a turnover. He could take it himself up forward, but he again doesn’t have the space to do it (plus his first touch was more towards the right, causing him to shift is weight). The last two options are to drop wide to Rosicky, or play the ball deeper himself. Rosicky offers an enticing option, but Arsenal’s strength is through the middle. In this case, Cazorla will drop deep into the midfield. By doing this, he is giving Wilshere room to replace his position in the attacking midfield, and giving him space to create a passing lane.

I’ve been slyly hinting at Arsenal’s positioning so far, and here is a great example. We see Cazorla dropping back deeper, and Wilshere has pushed into his position. We also see Kieran Gibbs pushing the overlap down the left-handed side. This attack is integral, because as Arsenal are getting the ball forward, they need a reason to spread Spurs’ defense out. Gibbs getting deep draws a defender and gives Arsenal a width option down the left. We know Rosicky and Wilshere are available, but now arguably Arsenal’s best player has the ball with five passing options in the attack.

I can’t emphasize the positioning more, here. If Cazorla would have kept the ball or laid it off earlier to Wilshere, there wouldn’t have been this spacing. Spurs’ defenders would have collapsed onto the individuals, and Walcott would be much deeper as well. Instead, the ball gets back to Wilshere and Arsenal has loads of options. Just notice the triangles created between Walcott, Rosicky, Wilshere, and Giroud. They can spread the ball wide, or push it towards the box. Arsenal has spread the defense out well, and now have a very real shot at a goal here. Remember how we pointed out Gibbs’ run down the left? Well, that run allowed for the likes of Giroud to stretch over to the right more without being tracked by two defenders. Now he is only marked by one.

The pass went to Rosicky, and he wisely gets a through ball to Walcott. Walcott does a great job of staying onside to continue the play, but we see that Giroud has sensed a goal as well, and positioned himself in behind the defense. He has drawn himself to the ball, and now stretched the defense even more. This constant movement confuses defenders and leaves them off of their best foot when it comes to defending him. Giroud has two options, and being the goalscorer, he senses out the best one. Many tall strikers would head for the back post and aim for the header. Instead, Giroud turns on the jets, gets in behind, and cuts in front of the goal. All Walcott has to to is get the ball across, and Arsenal take a pivotal early lead.

Arsenal’s core of midfielders have never been the issue to me. In fact, I believe they are top-notch and this goal proves just that. Their team is well organized, and fills into positions perfectly. On this goal, you see rotation from Cazorla, Rosicky, Walcott, Gibbs, Wilshere, and Ramsey. When one moves, another fills their place, and so on. These players see the game so well, and know how to make small attacks turn into great chances. After a tough first week loss, this Arsenal team seems well on its way to competing for some trophies this season.