Ian Wright shares what Conte did just before Partey scored for Arsenal

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Ian Wright has shared on Match of the Day how he noticed Antonio Conte pointed at Thomas Partey to highlight the space he was in just before the Arsenal midfielder broke the deadlock against Tottenham in the North London derby.

Saturday proved to be a miserable occasion for Spurs. They saw their unbeaten start to the Premier League season brought to an end against the worst possible opponent.

Tottenham could have few complaints about the result. For a second year running, the visitors were punished for a poor start at the Emirates.

Conte pointed at Partey before Arsenal goal

The goal had been coming when Partey did manage to beat Hugo Lloris from the edge of the box after 20 minutes. It was a superb finish. But Tottenham did not help themselves.

Partey found himself in all kinds of space with Spurs camped in the box. Neither Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg or Rodrigo Bentancur seemed to anticipate what was about to happen. But the same could not be said for the manager, who spotted the Ghanaian all alone.

“The space, you know how you look at the space there. You can see Conte pointing to Partey there, both of these two holding midfielders are too deep in the box,” he told Match of the Day.

“You look at the amount of space that Ben White and Partey have got. Ben White’s popping up there again, lovely ball into his path. That’s a magnificent goal.”

Tottenham changes likely

In fairness, Tottenham improved shortly after the goal. Richarlison won a penalty. And Harry Kane was able to equalise. And actually, Spurs looked the more dangerous side in the minutes leading up to half-time.

But Tottenham’s defending was poor for much of the afternoon.

It would be no surprise if some significant changes were made for the trips to Eintracht Frankfurt and Brighton.

Obviously, Emerson Royal will miss some of the upcoming games. But perhaps the likes of Oliver Skipp and Yves Bissouma will be hoping to now get a proper chance in the middle of the park.

Hojbjerg and Bentancur have formed a superb partnership since the January transfer window. However, neither had a very good game at the Emirates, with Bentancur’s brightest moments probably coming when he tried to drive the side forward once they were done to a numerical disadvantage.

But in truth, there are not too many players who can have any complaints if Conte takes them out of the side on Tuesday.