Tottenham overwhelmed 10-man Arsenal to reignite their Champions League qualification hopes with an emphatic 3-0 victory in a breathless 191st north London derby
Arsenal wilted and then imploded on a night of high drama and tension at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Cedric Soares' push on Heung-Min Son presenting Harry Kane with the 22nd-minute penalty he converted to give Spurs the lead
The Gunners, overawed by the atmosphere and occasion, were reduced to 10 men when Rob Holding was given his marching orders for a mindless barge on Son (33), and Spurs needed just four minutes to hammer home their advantage when Kane stooped to head in his second
Any prospect of an Arsenal comeback was extinguished when Son fired in a third, and his 21st of the season, 70 seconds into the second half, as fifth-placed Spurs saw out a comprehensive victory to cut fourth-placed Arsenal's advantage in the race for a top-four finish to a point with two games to play
Champions League qualification is still in Arsenal's hands but the damaging nature of this north London derby collapse and a less than favourable run-in will give Tottenham renewed belief of finishing ahead of the Gunners in the top four
May 15 - May 22 - May 16 - , live on May 22 - The north London derby was a powder keg waiting to be ignited and, after an encouraging Arsenal start, the spark came for Spurs midway through the half
 Cedric's nudge prevented Son from reaching Dejan Kulusevski's deep cross and left referee Paul Tierney with no option but to point to the spot, from where Kane slotted home for the 13th time in this fixture
Cedric's clumsy conceding of the penalty was upstaged in farcical circumstances when Holding recklessly collided with Son off the ball and picked up his second yellow of the game to leave Arsenal with almost an hour to overturn the one-goal deficit with 10 men
Tottenham took full advantage of the man advantage, with Kane evading Takehiro Tomiyasu to head in his second within four minutes of Holding's dismissal, and Spurs ensured they retained a tight grip on the contest through to the interval when Hugo Lloris tipped Eddie Nketiah's curling effort over the bar
Two swiftly become three when the ball broke for Son in the Arsenal area after Gabriel's sliding challenge on Kane, and the South Korean dispatched Spurs' third in the second minute of the second half
Arsenal were indebted to Aaron Ramsdale for preventing further embarrassment with fine saves to keep out Emerson Royal's header and Kane's swerving, long-range drive, but that was scant consolation for the Gunners who must pick themselves up fast to avoid their north London rivals adding the most-coveted of prizes - Champions League qualification - to this derby triumph before the season is up
Rob Holding has revelled in his role as Arsenal's finisher at times this season, coming off the bench to help secure wins over Wolves, Watford, Aston Villa and Manchester United
 He started victories over West Ham and Leeds this month
 But this was a wretched night
The central defender had fouled Heung-Min Son twice already before he even went into the book
 Smiling at the Spurs man, one might have thought he was relishing the battle, but instead he became caught up in it
 Gary Neville called it ego and that is how it seemed
"What is he doing? Oh my goodness," said Neville, on-co-commentary for 
 "I am watching the run and I think he has a jab with his elbow
 He is saying it is a shoulder but it is madness from Holding
 He has been erratic, he has been rash, and he is off
"Holding is 26 with half a dozen seasons of Premier League experience, but this was the behaviour of a player lost in the moment, displaying immaturity when cool heads were required
 "Son played Holding like a little boy," said Neville
 It was difficult to disagree
"It is a really difficult one
 Arsenal know what they need to do
 If they go to Newcastle and win and then beat Everton they get Champions League
 Spurs on the other hand, of course they have much better fixtures, you would rather play Burnley at home and then Norwich away, Norwich are already down
 Of course, you would rather have Spurs fixtures, but I would not mind being in Arsenal's shoes because you know what you have got to do
"But the other problem that Arsenal have got, and it is a really difficult one, is injuries
 It looks like Gabriel has got an injury
 They obviously haven't got Rob Holding
 Kieran Tierney is out injured
 The back four has been pretty much dismantled
 It is all to play for and Newcastle will be a really tough game for Arsenal
 They somehow have to pick themselves up and I did not like how they played tonight
 They were petulant
 It was like the occasion got to them
" "If I say what I think I am suspended for six months
 I don't know how to lie so I prefer not to say what I think
 I cannot say what I think
"I am not unhappy with my players
 I am proud of my players
 I want the referees to come in front of the camera and explain his decisions
 It's a shame because such a beautiful game was destroyed today
 The decision was made
 We can't change it
 The referee has to make a decision in football
"Our focus is Newcastle
 This game is history
 This is gone
 It went out of our hands and we have to accept it
 Now we need to be the team that you saw from the beginning
"When you lose a football match in the conditions, we lost them it's painful
 But we have a huge match on Monday so we will try to beat them
 We have two games to play each
 It's in our hands and now we have to do our jobs
 We showed from the beginning in this game
" "When there are games that are must-win, winning it is not easy
 We could have only one result
"To see players with this focus, this calm, and this positive pressure
 We tried to be stable
 This is the first step to becoming an important team
"The atmosphere was amazing
 For this reason we have to give thanks to our fans
 They were incredible from the start until the end
 They pushed us a lot
 I think we repaid their faith with a good win in an important derby, especially because we are now very close to them
"It is only one point