Emery’s bold Arsenal prove they have stomach for top four fight that Tottenham are lacking
Gunners manager and player look to be relishing task of securing Champions League football while their North London rivals are falling apart as the pressure mounts
ARSENAL'S bold display against Manchester United shows they have the stomach to finish in the top four that Tottenham do not.
The Gunners have moved to within a point of their North London rivals who currently occupy fourth.
And not only did they inflict the first Premier League defeat of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reign in charge at Old Trafford, they also sent out a message to their rivals.
That this Arsenal will not crumble under the weight of the pressure like so many of Arsene Wenger's later sides did.
When Spurs slipped up again against Southampton on Saturday, this game against United assumed even more importance.
For suddenly Mauricio Pochettino's side were in sight, and no longer was there only one final Champions League qualification spot up for grabs.
Faced with such an opportunity, Emery and his players were not about to throw it away as they played with the kind of pace, intensity and missing for years at the Emirates.
Crucially, the players look as though they are loving the challenge and up for the fight.
And the same cannot be said for Spurs, who are doing their level best to throw their season away.
Pochettino has been forced to haul his players over the coals twice in public in recent weeks, the act of a manager desperate for his stars to show some character.
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He accused them of bottling it when they lost at Burnley, then slammed their arrogance in defeat at Southampton on Saturday.
But right through this Gunners side there were players standing up to be counted.
Bernd Leno is growing in stature as a keeper, Laurent Koscielny threw his body on the line and Sokratis made up for his costly mistakes in midweek to duel with Romelu Lukaku.
Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey were tireless across the pitch, Mesut Ozil again put in a shift to go with his guile.
And Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang showed bottle to assume responsibility to take the penalty just a week after his costly miss against Spurs.
Arsenal now have the chance to build on this win, and crucially do not have to play any of the teams around them this season.
Spurs, who can't even match up against relegation threatened teams, still have to go to Manchester City and Liverpool.
I know who my money is on.