Same story for slow-starting Spurs as Arsenal expose Lloris and Sessegnon to NLD win

Arsenal moved eight points clear at the top of the Premier League after a classic Spurs performance in what was a predictable Derby Day result.

Everyone knows Tottenham have started games slowly this season, but if there's one game Antonio Conte's men should have been ready for from the start, it would be the North London Derby. especially when their rivals are at the top of their game, and more importantly, at the top of the Premier League, with five points separating them and defending champions Manchester City ahead of Sunday's game.

Ryan Sessegnon was named left-back ahead of Ivan Perisic and the reason was pretty obvious. Bukayo Saka is arguably Arsenal's most dangerous player. Whether he is or not doesn't matter, but he's an extremely dangerous winger who can pose a problem for any left-sided defender on any day. Sessegnon is quicker than Perisic which means he could at least cope with the England winger. Sessegnon was physical with him, although that's probably the only positive thing you can say about how this game went from a Spurs perspective.

Arsenal's game plan was clear. They easily escaped the press from their rivals early on and even with a sloppy play from Thomas Partey, the Gunners were calm and secure in possession. With Sessegnon targeted in a glaring mismatch, Arsenal did what they could to destabilize another weak link in Hugo Lloris. The Frenchman knocked one down a fortnight ago against Aston Villa and has always been a bit shady with his feet - especially in recent years - and Arsenal obviously knew that. The visitors' first chance of the match came to Eddie Nketiah after Lloris stitched up his team-mate with a dodgy pass, but redeemed himself by saving the 23-year-old's left-footed shot.

And then Arsenal were up front. Gunners start games fast, Spurs start games slow. The 0-1 scoreline in the first half was fairly inevitable and Lloris being at the heart of it was no surprise. Saka had too much time in the box and shoved the ball down Lloris' throat, the Spurs captain sending the ball into his own goal, to score exactly that: an own goal.

Spurs only needed to go into the break one goal up and it looked like there was no way that would be the case. Lloris made a good save to prevent Martin Odegaard; Partey powered the post with a sublime volley and Arsenal purred in a lackluster Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Most of the game stayed on the Saka/Sessegnon flank. Much like he did for the aforementioned Lloris save, Odegaard had far too much room from around 25 yards out, but this time he made Spurs pay. The ball went down the right, Saka found Odegaard in a pocket of space and the Arsenal captain drilled the ball hard and low into the bottom corner. Lloris was not at fault, but the overall abject performance of Conte's players was. Even the wandering Oleksandr Zinchenko was getting in the middle of the action with Saka and Benjamin White, sliding to form cheeky triangles.

Spurs looked flat, they looked weak, they looked like they weren't creating a half-decent chance. "Spurs are playing like little boys there", "they look beaten", Saka "destroyed them", said co-commentator Gary Neville in a scathing but fair assessment. The biggest cheer from the home crowd was when they thought they had been awarded a penalty in what was a very bizarre end to the first 45 minutes. Harry Kane momentarily licked his lips but it wasn't.

So Conte clearly tore a new one in all of his players at half-time, for what appears to be the 50th time this season. I was maybe expecting to see Richarlison come on in the second half, but the Italian head coach didn't make any half-time substitutions. You could clearly see the second 45 would be more competitive with Aaron Ramsdale showing Lloris how it's done with some big saves. Dejan Kulusevski was getting his own joy against Oleksandr Zinchenko, but couldn't find that killer pass or shot.

After riding for the vast majority of the first half, Arsenal faced an expected storm for the first ten minutes of the second.

Saka would continue for Sessegnon when the opportunity presented itself, which was becoming increasingly rare as the game progressed with Spurs. Richarlison entered the field and pushed Benjamin White within a minute. You like to see it. Conte grew enthusiastic for the last 20 games as his side tried to get something out of the game, moving to a back four in what looked like a very attacking 4-2-4. Saka had a new enemy with the arrival of Perisic, as Conte knew he needed more going forward and Mikel Arteta's star man wouldn't see the ball as much.

In what was a difficult day for Lloris, his counterpart Aaron Ramsdale was superb,