Arsenal twice went ahead against Tottenham, but their bitter rivals fought back both times to claim a point from Sunday’s entertaining North London Derby at the Emirates
Arsenal played out an entertaining draw with Tottenham
It was intense, hard fought and gripping.
But ultimately, neither team was quite good enough to win it. You have to question Arsenal’s title aspirations after they twice threw away the lead and if you want to be champions then you cannot be that sloppy.
Arsenal failed to build on their early goal when they could have put the game out of sight and then Jorginho’s horrible error gifted Son Heung-Min a second equaliser just a minute after the home side had regained the lead.
Mikel Arteta was understandably cursing afterwards because he could see the reasons why Arsenal deserved to win but Tottenham certainly deserved a point. There is no doubt that Ange Postecoglou will be happier with the result and the draw probably says more about the rapid progress the Tottenham manager is making.
Tottenham bossed midfield with Yves Bissouma outstanding and James Maddison a terrific orchestrator. They also have a wonderful never-say-die spirit. What is also admirable is that Postecoglou sticks to his guns and his principles. For example, Destiny Udogie had a torrid first half an hour against Bukayo Saka but, rather than hook his rookie left back, he stuck with him and his man came out on top overall.
Tottenham’s squad does not look deep but they have clearly all bought into Ange ball and are exceeding expectations when you consider they sold their top scorer and talisman Harry Kane for £100m in the summer.
Incredibly, they do not look like they are missing Kane while Arsenal have a few unanswered questions and, despite their big summer spending spree, have yet to hit top gear. Declan Rice was miles off the pace in the first half, the £105m midfielder was struggling with a back injury and came off at half time.
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Son Heung-Min scored twice to ensure Spurs claimed a point (
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With both Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard out injured, Arsenal used two centre forwards with Gabriel Jesus on the left, Eddie Nketiah through the middle and neither of them look ruthless enough. Arsenal’s goals came courtesy of an own goal and a penalty which says a lot.
Arteta has yet to find the right formula and they already find themselves four points behind Manchester City which is a big gap to make up even at this early stage. Arsenal did start well and Saka’s shot was deflected off Cristian Romero to give the home side a 26th minute lead.
“They should have got a second when Jesus robbed Maddison in his own box, looked certain to score but blazed over. They were soon cursing not taking their chances. Arsenal keeper David Raya made a fabulous save to deny Brennan Johnson but the visitors were looking ominous and levelled before the break.
Arsenal were sloppy in defence, Raya saved from Johnson, Maddison picked up the loose ball and squared for Son to squeeze a shot in off the far post. Arsenal regained the lead nine minutes after the restart.
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Ben White’s shot on the turn hit Romero’s hand in the box. The VAR check took an eternity as the handball was obvious but they needed to ascertain whether there was a foul in the build-up and if Romero should see red for the handball.
Saka held his nerve and then slammed the penalty home. Arsenal were back in control - but that did not last long. Jorginho, on for Rice at half time, made a horrible error, was caught in possession by Maddison who raced away before playing in Son who slotted in another equaliser.
Referee Robert Jones played ten minutes of injury time and yet neither team showed enough quality or composure to win it. And a draw was a fair result.
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