Harry Kane's Goal Lifts Tottenham Past Arsenal in North London Derby

Harry Kane scored the winner four minutes into the second half as Tottenham Hotspur beat Arsenal 1-0 in a Premier League north London derby at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

The result leaves Spurs seven points clear of their local rivals, who saw substitute Alexandre Lacazette miss two excellent chances in stoppage time.

The big omission from Arsenal's starting XI was midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who scored a hat-trick in last week's 5-1 win over Everton. Ramsey missed out because of a groin injury, per Neil Ashton of The Sun.

BBC broadcaster John Murray relayed both teams, with Jack Wilshere taking Ramsey's place:

A cagey opening 45 minutes saw usually gung-ho Arsenal adopt a more pragmatic approach. The Gunners kept their defensive shape well to limit Spurs going forward.

The problem was the visitors were creating little themselves. Their best chance came when a smart pass from Mesut Ozil picked out right-back Hector Bellerin on the break.

Unfortunately, the defender shot high when he would have been better served going across Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Spurs' best moment came when Christian Eriksen's cross was met by the head of Kane shortly before the half-hour mark. Uncharacteristically, the prolific striker fluffed his lines from close range.

Not surprisingly, it was goalless at the break, although the stalemate had positive omens for the Gunners, according to BBC Match of the Day:

There was only four minutes gone in the second half when Kane finally got his goal. Once again, he was first to meet a ball in the air and this time made no mistake as he nodded home Ben Davies' superb cross.

The striker then spurned two chances to double the lead when he headed wide after another smart delivery from Eriksen before shooting straight at Cech after being played through by Dele Alli.

Cech was called into action again moments later when he had to palm Eriksen's free-kick over.

It said everything about Arsenal's struggles when January import Henrikh Mkhitaryan was soon substituted for Alex Iwobi, while holding midfielder Mohamed Elneny made way for striker Lacazette.

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

Yet again the Gunners had Cech to thank when he thwarted first Alli then substitute Erik Lamela. The saves showed Arsenal's changes had done little to alter the pattern of play.

Arsenal had two excellent chances to salvage a point and some pride in stoppage time, but Lacazette ballooned over after being picked out by Bellerin. The French striker spurned an even better chance as he inexplicably slotted wide after being played through.

Lacazette's lack of composure and quality summed up the Gunners' day. The visitors were overpowered by a physical Tottenham side with the killer instinct where it counted thanks to another superb showing from Kane.

Afterwards, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger bemoaned his side's lack of fluency on the break, per Goal's Chris Wheatley:

Wenger's complaint is justified, especially when thinking back to Bellerin's miss.

However, it's fanciful to think the Gunners created enough opportunities on the break to be out of sight of a Spurs side in this sort of form.