Some pride restored

Tottenham 2-2 Arsenal

Saturday’s much anticipated North London Derby ended all square at White Hart Lane, as Arsenal dug deep to ensure they didn’t lose a fourth straight game despite being reduced to ten men early in the second half.

It was a game of much frustration for the Gunners as until that moment of madness from Francis Coqulein, which led to the Frenchman receiving a second yellow card for a mistimed challenge he really didn’t need to make, Arsenal had been comfortable.

Arsene Wenger’s side had received a great deal of criticism in the week leading up to the derby and rightly so, following two horrendous performances. It was therefore no surprise to see Tottenham attempt to take advantage of the Gunners fragile state of mind and confidence levels, as they came out all guns blazing from the start. The game plan for Tottenham was always going to be to attempt to pressure Arsenal high up the pitch, forcing them to abandon their passing game and embarking on long balls.

However Wenger had a tactical plan to counter Pochetino’s. The Arsenal manager elected to start the game with Danny Welbeck up front instead of Giroud, utilising the Englishman’s pace to offer a threat in behind the Tottenham defence and therefore forcing them to sit back slightly deeper than they would have preferred. In central midfield, Wenger also attempted to restrict Tottenham from playing balls into Deli Ali and Christian Ericksen, by deploying Mohammed Elneny alongside Coquelin. The two defensively disciplined midfielders were able to sit deep and provide a defensive shield for the defence and as a result, Tottenham struggled to create clear cut goal scoring opportunities as Arsenal continually threatened to hit them on the break.

Tottenham’s best chance of the first half arrived as a result of Kyle Walker’s low cross which Lamela attempted to steer goalwards, but stand in goalkeeper David Ospina was more than equal to it and showed great reflexes to turn the ball away. Other than that, Tottenham were reduced to pot shots from outside the box, while Arsenal were just failing to find the right pass in the final third, to open up the host’s defence.

As the first half was entering its final phase, the Gunners finally managed to do so. Danny Welbeck, who looked lively throughout, reacted quickest to a loose ball and burst into the area. The Englishman showed great composure to look up and spot the supporting run of Hector Bellerin. The ball was played into the Spaniard’s path, but rather than take on the shot, Bellerin passed to Ramsey. Although the pass was just behind the Welshman, Ramsey improvised beautifully, flicking the ball past Hugo Lloris to give the Gunners the lead.

Tottenham it seemed had run out of ideas and energy. Their attacks were becoming more and more desperate and easy to defend against. Lacking the intensity and energy which has been a hallmark of their attacking play, they were unravelling fast. Arsenal were comfortable and yet as they so often do, the Gunners pressed the self destruct button. Having already been cautioned, Coquelin had been warned by Wenger at halftime not to be reckless, but still flew into a needless tackle. The referee could have given the Frenchman a final warning, especially as he later failed to give Eric Dier a second yellow card for a clear foul on Giroud, but instead took the first opportunity to send Coquelin off.

Having gone a man down, Arsenal crumbled. Ospina pulled off a great save as the Gunners’ defending from a corner left much to be desired. On the next corner, they were less fortunate. Lamela was left unmarked and his flick on fell straight to the equally unmarked Alderweirald who steered the ball past Ospina.

White Hart lane was rocking again and very soon Tottenham would be in front. As Mertesacker and Deli Ali chased a ball which seemed destined to roll out of play, the German failed to shield the ball out of play and allowed Ali to get to the ball and flick it into the path of Harry Kane. The Englishman picked up the ball and unleashed an unstoppable shot just inside the far post to send the home crowd wild.

Yet Tottenham then stopped playing. Arsenal slowly but surely began to reassert themselves into the game and when Olivier Giroud came onto the pitch, the Gunners were able to play the ball into him, allowing the Frenchman to hold it up and bring his teammates into play. Almost immediately after the substitution, the Gunners were level. Ramsey played a pass out wide to Bellerin and Spaniard’s pass into the path of Alexis Sanchez was perfectly weighted for the Chilean to hit a first time shot across goal, which caught Lloris by surprise and nestled into the bottom corner of the net.

The home side were stunned and had the referee evened up the game by sending off Dier instead of bottling the decision, Arsenal may well have gone on to win it. In fact even with their one man disadvantage the Gunners could have still won the game, as in the final minutes Ramsey was released through on goal, but took too long to get his shot away, allowing Wimmer to get back and make a last ditch tackle.

At the final whistle Arsenal could take great encouragement from their performance. They had shown they do have the heart and commitment to grind out a result when faced with adversity. Unfortunately it is most likely a case of too little too late. Leicester’s win a Watford means they are now eight points clear of the Gunners with only nine games left. Even with Leicester’s lack of experience when it comes to title challenges, it appears to be a gap that is too great to bridge and Arsenal will only have themselves to blame at the end of the season. One fine performance in which they did restore some pride, is not enough to placate the fans, not after having let them down so badly.