Tottenham beat north London rivals Arsenal 1-0 in Hong Kong; Pape Sarr scores goal from halfway line to give Spurs pre-season friendly win; new Arsenal signing Viktor Gyokeres came on as second-half substitute for debut but only had two touches as Arsenal fell to defeat
Pape Sarr’s stunning halfway line goal gave Tottenham a 1-0 pre-season friendly win over north London rivals Arsenal in Hong Kong.
Sarr robbed Myles Lewis-Skelly – who Arsenal felt had been fouled by Richarlison in midfield – before firing an outrageous long-range lob just inside Arsenal’s half over a stranded David Raya to score with Spurs’ only shot on target of the game in the 45th minute.
Before Sarr’s screamer, the Arsenal goalkeeper had a couple of shaky moments at corners as Spurs hit the post twice directly from deliveries, as Richarlison missed a glorious close-range chance from the second corner.
Tottenham winger Wilson Odobert also hit the post with a low shot in a feisty and physical first half, which saw Spurs midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur booked for a late tackle on Bukayo Saka.
There was more north London derby needle in the second half as Pedro Porro pushed Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta before taking a throw-in, with the Spurs defender feeling Arteta was in his way.
Arteta brought new signing Viktor Gyokeres on in the 77th minute for his debut as Saka came off after receiving treatment.
Gyokeres, who joined on Saturday in a £63.5m deal, did not have enough time to make an impact as he had just two touches, with Arsenal having one shot on target in the defeat.
Spurs, who won the Europa League last season, were presented with a trophy for winning the first-ever north London derby overseas, leading the club to tweet: “another one for the trophy cabinet”.