North London Derby ends 1-1
Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur couldn’t be separated this evening as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw.
It’s been a busy week for both teams, with Arsenal travelling to Wales to face Swansea City on Saturday, before facing Bayern Munich in Germany on Wednesday.
As for Spurs, they hosted Aston Villa on Monday, before once again playing host on Thursday to Anderlecht.
Before the game there was five points separating the two sides, and after the 90-minutes it remained that way, but Spurs have to be considered unlucky after dominating the game for 80-minutes.
The first-half was all Tottenham and they finally took the lead just after the half-hour mark when Harry Kane slotted past Petr Cech.
Despite Olivier Giroud missing a couple of chances for the hosts, Arsenal were not at the races all game, and it took a Kieran Gibbs substitution to change the game.
Gibbs‘ pace cause Spurs all kinds of problems and a deep cross by Mesut Ozil was met by the left-back at the far post, and he bundled it home past Hugo Lloris, who should have done better.
The game ended all square and put the Gunners level top with Manchester City, while Spurs remain fifth.
Match Reaction
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “In the second half we showed the mental strength of a side determined not to lose the game. In the end I think it’s a good 1-1.
“Kieran Gibbs’ movement is good. His timing in the box is good. Sometimes when he gets into a position he doesn’t believe he can score.
“What this championship shows is that you have to fight 200% in every game for a result, you’ve seen that in all the games today. It shows it will be down to the team that can find the mental resource in every game.”
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino:“The way we played we should feel very proud. The effort was brilliant. The level we showed and the commitment was fantastic. It’s the way we want to carry on.
“In six days we’ve played three matches, maybe we felt it in the final minutes. We need to recognise we are a very young team. This experience is very important.
“We need to show we are maturing. The level we have today is good, we need to show more and to improve. It’s early to set a limit or to expect a lot of things.”
