Arsenal missed a glorious chance to complete a league double over Tottenham when they only managed to draw 1-1 at White Hart Lane. Aaron Ramsey and Harry Kane were the scorers for either in a game that came to life after the hour mark.
Around the 16th minute, a Davinson Sanchez’s headed clearance fell straight into the path of Alexandre Lacazette on the halfway line. The Frenchman then spotted the run of Ramsey who was free. The latter then had half the length of the field to run with the ball, keep his composure and put the Gunners ahead.
Spurs then took over in terms of having more possession but were not penetrative enough. Right at the stroke of half-time, Bernd Leno produced a fantastic double-save to deny the home side’s first attempts on target.
16 minutes from time, Kane was bulldozed over by Shkodran Mustafi following a set-piece situation, leaving the referee with no choice but to point to the spot. It was later seen that the striker was offside. Nevertheless, the decision stood and Tottenham’s equalised from the penalty.
In the 89th minute, Arsenal got a soft penalty when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was fallen over by Sanchez. The aforementioned striker took charge of the penalty but sent his effort weak for Hugo Lloris to make the save easily.
Lucas Torreira lunged in high with seconds to go to get a straight red card in a game that was running high on emotion.
At the end of the day, one would have to say, it was two points dropped from Arsenal.
Here’s how we rated their performances.
Bernd Leno - 7
Made an astounding double-save to deny Christian Eriksen and Moussa Sissoko. Couldn’t have done much to save the penalty.
Shkodran Mustafi - 6
Gave a good account of himself at right-back until clumsily fouling Kane in the box.
Sokratis - 7
He was solid at the back and made one crucial intervention to deny Kane a chance to tap-in.
Laurent Koscielny - 7
The skipper gave everything to deny Spurs from having clear-cut chances. His partnership with Sokratis was solid.
Nacho Monreal - 7
Did well defensively and went forward to good effect. He set up Lacazette with an easy chance, but the Frenchman blazed his chance over.
Matteo Guendouzi - 6
The teenager was industrious in the middle of the park but gave away possession a couple of times. Subbed off at the break.
Granit Xhaka - 7
The Swiss international held the midfield together but got a bit erratic in the final 15 minutes. Booked.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan - 7
The Armenian international worked hard to track back and help the defence out. On the counter, his foot work in tight areas was dangerous.
Aaron Ramsey - 7
Scored the opener and worked hard to close down the opposition in midfield. The Welshman did not disappoint in his last North London derby appearance. Subbed off for Mesut Ozil.
Alex Iwobi - 6
Worked hard up and down the left-hand channel without much end product.
Alexandre Lacazette - 6
Pounced on the Sanchez erroneous header to setup Ramsey’s goal, but he missed a great chance to double Arsenal’s lead early in the second half. Subbed off for Aubameyang.
(SUB) Lucas Torreira - 5
Came on at the start of second half and went about closing down Spurs players in midfield. Right at the end, the Uruguayan flown into a challenge on Danny Rose and rightly sent off.
(SUB) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 4
Won the penalty after a good run in behind the Spurs defence. But his spot-kick was very weak and not even in the corner. Those things made it easy for the keeper to make the save.
(SUB) Mesut Ozil - 3
Just couldn’t get into the game once he replaced Ramsey.