Spurs keep race for UEFA Champions League spot alive after whipping Arsenal

Tottenham secured a huge victory in the UEFA Champions League qualification race on Thursday by winning 3-0 against Arsenal, who played an hour of the north London derby with 10 men.

A win for Arsenal would have been enough for them to clinch a top-four finish in the English Premier League for the first time since 2016.

But they are now just one point clear of Spurs with two games remaining.

Harry Kane scored the opener from the penalty kick spot after Cedric Soares’ foul on Son Heung-min.

It was a coming together with the South Korean that resulted in Rob Holding being shown a second yellow card in the 33rd minute.

Kane doubled his tally before half-time and Son put the result beyond doubt early in the second period.

This put Antonio Conte’s men firmly in contention for a UEFA Champions League spot.

Tottenham were awarded a penalty kick in the 22nd minute when Cedric shoved Son over in the box.

Kane showed great composure to send his spot-kick into the bottom-right corner.

Holding was given his marching orders after catching Son in the head with his arm and Spurs doubled their advantage just four minutes later.

Son’s corner-kick was helped on towards the back post by Rodrigo Bentancur, with Kane stooping to nod into the back of the net from close range.

Things got worse for Arsenal just two minutes after the restart, with Son dinking the ball home through a crowd of bodies after Gabriel Magalhaes’ tackle on Kane.

Aaron Ramsdale made two saves in quick succession to deny Emerson Royal and Kane, while Son was unable to turn Ryan Sessegnon’s pass on target.

This was in spite of his being one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Gabriel hobbled off late on with a hamstring injury for the Gunners.

They were left to mull over a defeat that put a dent in their hopes of a return to the 2022/2023 UEFA Champions League.