Arsenal and Tottenham share spoils in North London thriller

Tottenham Hotspur came back from behind twice to hold Arsenal 2-2 at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

In what was an enthralling North London derby, both teams remain unbeaten after six games with 14 points to their tally, four shy of reigning Champions Manchester City.

Arsenal had two golden opportunities to go ahead in the first fifteen minutes but were denied by the heroics of Guglielmo Vicario in the Spurs goal. The hosts, however, took the lead in the 26^th minute through a stroke of luck.

Fortune gives Arsenal the opener

Bukayo Saka’s miskick was heading wide, but it took a massive deflection off Cristian Romero to wrong-foot Vicario and hit the back of the net.

Gabriel Jesus spurned a golden opportunity to make it 2-0 just six minutes later as he inexplicably blazed over from a goalscoring position.

The visitors though restored parity just minutes before half-time when Son Heung-min diverted James Maddison’s cutback in the far corner as both sides headed into the tunnel tied at the break.

The game burst into life just six minutes after the restart. Ben White’s goal-bound effort hit Romero’s outstretched hand in the penalty box and from the resultant spot kick, Saka made no mistake to make it 2-1 for the Gunners.

Instant response

Tottenham were unfazed by the scoreline and immediately hit back within seconds. After Jorginho needlessly gave the ball away in midfield, Son kept his composure to hit the back of the net once again from Maddison’s wonderful layoff.

Both sides looked to get the winning goal but neither could garner any clear-cut opportunities.

The hosts piled the pressure deep into the game but the Spurs backline held their own and the visitors could have even snatched victory had Richarlison’s last-ditch effort not been blocked in the penalty box.

A draw would seem a fair result for both teams. While Spurs host Liverpool next weekend, Arsenal play Brentford midweek in the Carabao Cup before they travel to Bournemouth.

Photo credit: IMAGO / PPAUK