Point apiece for North London duo
Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to go top of the Premier League this lunch-time after failing to beat 10-man Arsenal at White Hart Lane.
Both sides went into the derby off of losses, with Arsenal going down to Swansea City at the Emirates Stadium, and Spurs losing 1-0 to West Ham United at Upton Park.
In a game which was dubbed as ‘the biggest North London derby ever’, they couldn’t be separated after 90-minutes despite Arsenal playing the majority of the second-half with 10-men.
Summary
Spurs went into the game three-points clear of their local-rivals, and it was the hosts who started the game the better.
Arsenal struggled to keep hold of the ball, and Spurs were rampant in the opening 30-minutes, but they failed to create clear-cut chances, apart from when Erik Lamela was denied superbly by David Ospina.
Despite Spurs controlling the game, it was Arsenal who took the lead through Aaron Ramsey. After nice work from Danny Welbeck down the wing, the England international picked out Hector Bellerin, who then passed through to Ramsey who smartly back-heeled the ball past Hugo Lloris.
Arsenal went into the break 1-0 up.
The game changed within the space of seven minutes however. Francis Coquelin was sent off for the Gunners after a second-bookable offence, and just seven minutes after that, Spurs were 2-1 up.
Toby Alderweireld made it 1-1 after smashing home from close range, and Harry Kane then made it 2-1 just minutes later after curling home superbly from outside the box.
Despite being down to 10-men, Arsenal rallied and managed to get the equaliser 14-minutes from time when Alexis Sanchez shot past Lloris.
The draw means Spurs stay three points above Arsenal in second, but it gives Leicester City yet another chance to peel away from the London duo.
Match Reaction
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino on BT Sport: “I am pleased. It’s true, when it was 2-1 I am little bit disappointed with the result, but we have to happy we keep the three-point gap to Arsenal. After Harry’s goal it was 11 versus 10, and they scored a very good goal but it was our mistake. Overall, the response after the West Ham game was fantastic.
“In our position, two points from the top, we have nine games ahead and we need to be focussed on Thursday against Borussia Dortmund, they are a very tough side too and we cannot stop.”
Spurs goalscorer Harry Kane: “We are disappointed, it’s an opportunity missed. We should have finished the game off, we should have got the third and fourth and that would have been the end but it if you give top sides room they punish you.
“I didnt think my goal had won it, it put us in a very good position. Maybe we dropped off and gave them too much time on the ball but it’s all part of the learning curve. There is a long way to go and we have to take each game as it comes.”
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger on BT Sport: “I am proud of the spirit, but there are big regrets, going down to 10 men was the big regret for the day and it was hard to take. We told Francis Coquelin at half-time because he had yellow already but Eric Dier deserved a second yellow as well and that could have changed the game.
“I never questioned the character of the team, when you lose you have to repsond on the pitch and we did that in a convincing way.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
