Arsenal and Tottenham were held to a 1-1 draw on Sunday at the Emirates as both side's struggled to break each other down in a frustrating North London derby.
Kevin Wimmer scored an own goal towards the back end of the first half, before Harry Kane equalised from the spot in the second half as the points were shared in a tense affair between the two rivals.
Arsenal make slow start but take the lead
The game, as you would expect from a North London derby started at a frantic pace, but it was Spurs who made the more encouraging start, as Danny Rose and Kyle Walker, being utilised as wing backs made use of the space down the Arsenal flanks.
The Gunners started the game slowly, struggling to find the intensity we've been used to seeing from them in their previous games. Son Hueng Min had a chance early on to get at the defence as Spurs managed to counter, but his final ball was a wasted one. Kane, back in the team after injury then glanced a header wide after Christian Eriken's ball in.
That was perhaps the warning the home side needed as they finally woke up and found their intensity, scoring the opener. Mesut Ozil delivered a teasing free-kick into the area, and Wimmer, making his first league start of the season, replacing Toby Alderweireld, headed into his own net after 43 minutes.
Although Wenger's men had made a slow start, but it was a goal that warranted their play in the final twenty minutes of the half. Before the goal, Ozil swept a chance wide from the edge of the area, whilst Alex Iwobi stuck a brilliant chance straight at Hugo Lloris after an incisive break away. Minutes before the break through however, Theo Walcott thundered a brilliant half volley against the post before Ozil skewed the follow up wide.
Harry Kane returns with a goal
For how comfortable Arsenal looked at the back end of the first-half they somehow gifted Spurs a way back into the game, a goal which eventually saw the points shared in North London. Laurent Koscielny stuck out a leg, brought down Mousa Dembele inside the area and Mark Clattenburg pointed to the spot. It may have been a tad soft, but the decision was probably the right one.
Kane had put in quite a laboured display, having missed the previous seven weeks through injury, but he duly slotted the penalty home, as Petr Cech was unable to keep the striker at bay.
It was an inevitable goal for Kane who has had a habit of scoring in North London derbies with five goals in five matches between the two sides. He's quite the nemesis and even not at full fitness he posed a threat to an Arsenal back line that looked a little shaky at times.
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Frustrating second-half for both teams
A draw was probably a fair result on reflection of the game, but one that is likely to frustrate both sides after having chances but failing to really do enough to win the game. For Spurs their unbeaten record in the Premier League is maintained, whilst Arsenal's own run is still quite impressive despite dropping more points at home.
It can therefore be seen as a disappointing result more so for the Gunners than their rivals, after asserting late pressure towards the end of the match. Substitute Olivier Giroud had his team's best chance of the second-half before injury time as Alexis Sanchez floated the ball in but the Frenchman's header was straight at Lloris. It wasn't quite the same impact Giroud had after his excellent display off the bench last week against Sunderland.
Before that, Aaron Ramsey fired a looping shot over from a cleared corner, whilst earlier in the half Iwobi's ball in was almost converted by Granit Xhaka but he couldn't quite get his head to it as Arsenal struggled to find any real rhythm.
As for Spurs, they shared equal frustrations as they were unable to find a winner. Vincent Janssen, on for Kane, who like the other subs during the game failed to make a real impact, scuffed a volley in injury time.
Eriksen meanwhile forced a decent save out of Cech in the second half, then had a free-kick which sailed through the defence before bouncing back off the post. Before Kane was brought off meanwhile, there was still time for Nacho Monreal to make a great block at the back post to deny him from scoring his second of the game.
Both sides defended valiantly towards the end, and it was no surprise that neither side could break each other down as the points were shared. For both teams it could represent a missed opportunity before the international break though, with Manchester City's draw against Middlesbrough yesterday.