A thrilling north London derby ended in a draw as Arsenal came from behind to draw 1-1 with rivals Tottenham.
Harry Kane gave Spurs the lead 34 minutes into the first-half after the Arsenal defence fell asleep and allowed the inform striker to pounce past Petr Cech. The hosts had to wait until the 77th minute for an equaliser when Kieran Gibbs became an unlikely hero for the Arsenal fans as he poked in from close range, to see the derby end in a draw.
The derby started off like a basketball match, as both sides were attacking straight from kick-off with quick counter-attacks from their own halves but neither side really contested their opposing goals.
Arsenal got into their usual rhythm of stylish, fast football early on in the game as Santi Cazorla orchestrated every attack for the Gunners, however the Tottenham defence, that have been solid all season, held strong to stop any promising moves from the hosts.
Spurs didn’t get a shot off until the 18th minute when Moussa Dembele wiggled his way through Per Mertesacker, before getting a shot away from distance, but Mertesacker managed to get a foot on the shot and the ball fired wide of the goal.
Spurs pressure mounts
The visitors were close again eight minutes later when Eric Dier should had given Spurs the lead when the holding midfielder was left open in the box with a free header, but the England international headed off target and into the side netting.
Spurs’ pressure pulled off as Kane gave Tottenham the lead 33 minutes in. Danny Rose sent in a brilliant ball from his own half to Kane, who was unmarked and kept onside by Laurent Koscielny, and the English striker dashed towards goal and curled the ball around Cech to give Spurs the lead.
Arsenal looked to be suffering from their hangover in Bayern as the Gunners struggled to make any impact for the rest of the half. Spurs continued to press Arsenal and soak up the opposing pressure with efficiency, but the score remained 1-0 to the white half of north London at half-time.
Arsene Wenger made a surprising half-time change as Mathieu Flamini replaced Cazorla, after the Spaniard suffered a torrid time for most of the first-half. The Gunners came out fighting as Joel Campbell forced Hugo Lloris to make an important save after firing from distance just two minutes after the restart.
Christian Eriksen was close to doubling Tottenham’s lead when his deflected shot almost beat Cech from the far post but his shot flew inches wide of the post. At the other end, Olivier Giroud came close when he connected with Mesut Ozil’s free-kic but the Frenchman’s header smashed off the frame of the bar and out for a goal kick.
Giroud should have equalised for Arsenal in the 60th minute when he was picked out again by Ozil but his header from six-yards out somehow missed the target, and Tottenham escaped conceding a goal again.
The non-stop attacking from both sides continued as Cech was called into action again when the Arsenal defence played themselves into danger, setting Eriksen up for a free shot again in the box but Cech made a brilliant save to deny the Danish playmaker.
Cech continued to prove his worth for Arsenal when Toby Alderweireld headed from point-blank range, only for Cech to make an incredible save to keep the Gunners in the match.
An unlikley saviour
When all hope seemed lost for Arsenal, Gibbs came to rescue as the left-back equalised for the Gunners 15 minutes from time. Ozil whipped in a brilliant ball to Gibbs at the far post, and the English international fumbled the ball past Lloris to level the scoring up.
The nature of the game changed as Arsenal were now seen as the team that could go on to win the game. Gibbs went close again but this time Lloris saved his effort, then Giroud fired high from the resulting corner, sending the Arsenal crowd into a roar of support.
Despite this neither side could muster a late winner, and both teams shared the points. Arsenal could had gone top with a win today but the Gunners now remain joint top of the Premier League table with Manchester City.