Pape Matar Sarr gave Tottenham the lead against with a spectacular effort from the halfway line and sent Arsenal fans into meltdown. The Spurs midfielder took advantage of Gunners goalkeeper David Raya engaging in possession far from his goal, and claimed the ball as Arsenal attempted to build play just inside their half.
Sarr won the ball and retained his composure to quickly curl an effort over the top of a retreating Raya to give the Lilywhites the lead in Hong Kong. Thomas Frank side had went close a couple of times in the opening 45 minutes but found themselves in front out of nowhere.
It marked a magical moment in a game that had struggled to come to life. The referee's whistle had interrupted much of the game as both team's struggled to find any rhythm in the first north London derbyto take place outside of the United Kingdom.
While Arsenal found themselves in greater control, they were far from impressive and their supporters were quick to voice their frustrations when the side went behind. There was an annoyance with the team's performance and that of the officials.
"This team better wake ******* up next half and this ref aswell," said one fan on X. Another simply added: "******* shambles"
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"Appalling defensively, no spark in midfield If we go into the season like this we are mudded," said one downbeat fan. A further user was unimpressd with much of the team: "Odegaard is AVERAGE. Havertz is AVERAGE. Martinelli is AVERAGE. We will achieve nothing."
Raya did not escape criticism for his performance. "Whatever is going on with Raya, he better shake it off before the start of the season!" said one supporter.
"That was a reckless move by Raya! You can't afford to be that far off your line," added another.
"Not the best from Raya, though!" commented one fan. Some were frustrated with how Myles Lewis-Skelly was dispossessed.
"Skelly obviously hasn't learned anything from last season," one fan said. "We can't avoid those kinds of mistakes this season. It was a foul , yes. But why will u even want to pass through 4 players."
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