Tottenham’s Son Heung-min was a constant thorn in Arsenal’s side as they suffered their heaviest ever loss in a Premier League north London derby on Thursday.
Harry Kane scored the first goal in Tottenham’s 3-0 triumph after Son won a penalty.
Rob Holding, sent off after 33 minutes, also fouled the South Korean star four times.
To add salt to Arsenal’s wounds, Son netted his 21st Premier League goal to finish off a strong performance.
Arsenal, on the other hand, brought this on themselves.
It was Arsenal’s contentious request that this game is postponed to January.
Son was diagnosed with a hamstring injury when the game was initially scheduled for January 16.
Arsenal faced availability concerns, but they had the resources to field a competent team.
However, the game was called off at the eleventh hour after Arsenal submitted a request to the Premier League, citing COVID as a concern.
Only one Arsenal player, Martin Odegaard, was absent due to COVID. The remaining absences were due to injury, suspension, or call-ups to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Later that month, the Premier League revised its regulations to avoid such postponement demands.
Arsenal remains slight favorites to finish fourth despite their humiliating setback to their local rivals on Thursday.
Arsenal still has a chance to qualify for the Champions League. Tottenham will be unable to catch them if they defeat Newcastle and Everton.
However, any missed points in those games would open the door for the Spurs to finish ahead of their rivals for the sixth consecutive season.
