The North London derby has long been a fierce contest, but also one which has included lots of drama, action, and goals. And that was the case once again at Emirates Stadium as Arsenal disappointingly drew 2-2 at home against Tottenham.
Mikel Arteta was already without Thomas Partey and Gabriel Martinelli going into Sunday’s clash, however the Spaniard was dealt another blow days before as Leandro Trossard suffered a slight muscle injury in training. The Belgian’s absence saw Eddie Nketiah start alongside Gabriel Jesus for the first time this season.
The game started in a cagey affair, with challenges being drawn from both sides. Vicario in goal for Spurs made a good stop to deny Gabriel Jesus from a tight angle but the opening 25 minutes saw little goal-bound action. That was until Bukayo Saka cut inside onto his left foot on the edge of the box, and his strike was deflected by Romero for an own goal to give Arsenal the lead. And it should have been 2-0 minutes later as another defensive error from Tottenham saw Jesus nick the ball off of James Maddison in the Spurs penalty area but he fired his shot over.
Minutes before half-time, Spurs capitalised on Arsenal not taking their chances as Maddison squared to Son who tapped home from close range. The goal was down to some poor Arsenal defending and came just moments after David Raya made a sensational save to initially deny the away side an equaliser.
Arsenal made two half-time changes. Kai Havertz replaced Fabio Vieira and initially surprisingly, Jorginho came on at the base of Arsenal’s midfield in replace of Declan Rice. However it was later stated that this was due to a back issue.
And the changes did little good for Arsenal as they started the 2nd half slowly, however were awarded a penalty for a handball in the penalty area by Romero, and the resulting spot kick was dispatched well by Bukayo Saka. However, unforgivingly the lead was thrown away within a minute as a dreadful error in possession by Jorginho saw Maddison come away with the ball, and the Spurs midfielder played in Son who calmly equalised. Arsenal never looked like recovering from Tottenham’s second equaliser and a poor half of football for the Gunners followed. However Tottenham were unable to properly test Raya and capitalise and the game ended a draw with the points shared.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping his side bounces back when he takes his team to West London to face Brentford in the Carabao cup.
Player Ratings:
David Raya: 6 – Weird one. Made an excellent save in the first half but his distribution was off
Ben White: 5 – A rare off day for White. Not horrible defensively but poor going forward
William Saliba: 7 – Arsenal’s best player. Would’ve almost certainly been a defeat if it wasn’t for the brilliant Frenchman
Gabriel: 6 – Not bad but not as good as Saliba
Oleksandr Zinchenko: 6 – Some good passes and touches in the middle but struggled a bit defensively
Declan Rice: 6 – Had a decent first half before coming off at half-time
Fabio Vieira: 6 – Same as Rice
Martin Odegaard: 5 – Like White, a rare off-day for the captain. Just couldn’t get as involved and control the game as much as he would’ve liked
Bukayo Saka: 6 – Another weird one. Made the first goal. Scored the 2nd yet still had some poor moments in the 2nd half
Eddie Nketiah: 4 – A poor afternoon. Anonymous for most of it and lucky to not be sent off
Kai Havertz: 6 – One of Arsenal’s better 2nd half players
Jorginho: 3 – Shocker. Awful mistake for the 2nd goal and it wasn’t the only time he gave the ball away