STOP MOANING! Antonio Conte tells Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to ‘focus more on his team’

Antonio Conte told Mikel Arteta to ‘stop complaining’ after Tottenham beat Arsenal 3-0 in a controversial north London derby.

Two goals from Harry Kane in the first half and one from Son Heung-min after the break moved Spurs to within a point of Arsenal in the battle for the fourth Champions League spot with two games left of the season.

The night’s talking points were not the goals but the penalty awarded by referee Paul Tierney for a shove by Cedric Soares on Son for the opener, and then a second yellow card for Arsenal defender Rob Holding after he seemed to push his elbow in to the face of the Korean after half an hour. 

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte took a swipe at rival Mikel Arteta after their derby victory

Arsenal manager Arteta was so enraged that he refused to talk properly about them afterwards. He said: ‘I can’t do it as I want to be on the touchline on Monday (against Newcastle). I can’t lie and if I speak about it I will be suspended so I prefer not to. A beautiful game has been destroyed.’

Spurs manager Conte was quick to hit back. The Italian said: ‘Mikel Arteta is doing a really good job but I listened to him complain a lot.

‘I think he has to be focused more on his team and not complaining.

Conte chats with referee Paul Tierney after Tottenham’s victory in the north London derby

‘The red card for me was clear. If we want to complain we could do it every game. This is my advice. If he wants to take my advice it’s up to him. I don’t care. In six months I have listened to him complaining a lot. It’s not good.’

This game was postponed from earlier in the year at Arsenal’s request and Conte added: ‘They had the game postponed because of Covid and they only had one player with Covid. I haven’t forgotten that. I could complain about playing our next game at 12 o’clock on Sunday when Arsenal play on Monday night. They have more rest.’

Kane gave Spurs the lead from the penalty awarded in the 22nd minute and scored again seven minutes after the sending off.

Tottenham were awarded a penalty after Cedric Soares committed a clumsy foul on Son

Striker Harry Kane (above) opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute

The first half saw a running battle between Son and Holding, and the Spurs forward said of the red card: ‘I was running into space, but he just blocked the run. Even if the ball isn’t coming, it’s a dangerous challenge.

‘We have VAR so if there was no yellow card, then probably VAR would check it. For me it was a clear foul and a clear yellow card.’

Son’s second-half goal was his 21st of the season and takes him to within one of Liverpool’s Mo Salah in the race for the Premier League golden boot. 

With fixtures against Burnley and Norwich to come, Son will fancy his chances of catching the Egyptian.

Rob Holding was sent off for two bookings, the second awarded after he clattered into Son

Son provided the final nail in the Arsenal coffin by scoring Tottenham’s third goal