Gunners battle to draw

Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham

Arsenal came through a real test of strength and character on Sunday evening to salvage a point from a game in which they were second best for large periods.

The North London derby was always going to be a very difficult game for the Gunners given the mauling suffered at the hands of Bayern Munich in mid week and the number of injuries reducing Arsene Wenger to a threadbare squad, therefore leading to only one change from the side that lost to Bayern.

Added to this set of circumstances was a strange situation which occurred with Santi Cazorla, who throughout the entire first half was suffering with dizziness and was clearly not up to his usual standard with Wenger describing the Spaniard as being at only 30 per cent. With a desperately fatigued side and Cazorla virtually absent, the Arsenal midfield just could not cope with Tottenham’s high pressing game. As soon as the ball was played into the midfield, Tottenham would hunt down the ball in packs of three and sometimes even four, winning possession time and time again.

Arsenal were struggling to string passes together and would end the first half without really troubling the Tottenham goal as Francis Coquelin was effectively left to fight the midfield battle all by himself as both Alexis Sanchez and Joel Campbell pushed high up the pitch in an attempt to support Giroud.  Arsenal were just not at the races and were struggling all over the pitch. As the midfield battle was being lost, the defence came under more and more pressure with the Gunners struggling to cope with Deli Ali, playing in the hole, just behind Harry Kane.

Wenger had decided to drop Gabriel and start with Koscielny and Mertesacker in the heart of the defence, despite the German’s nightmare performance in Munich. Surely when all are fit Wenger should select Gabriel and Koscielny? The manager was made to rue his decision, just past the half hour mark as a simple ball over the top from Danny Rose, sailed over the head of Mertesacker, taking the German completely out of the game and allowing Kane to race through on goal before slotting the ball past Cech. If Mertesacker is ever caught out of position, he has no pace and therefore no hope of getting back to make a tackle. Gabriel on the other hand is far more mobile and so in such a situation he has a chance to get back and at least apply pressure on the attacker. The decision to stick with Mertesacker, especially when the German is not playing well, is baffling.

At half time those inside the Emirates stadium simply could not see a way back into this game for their side. Arsenal had been extremely poor, second best in every department and a look to bench didn’t inspire any confidence either. With so many injuries affecting the squad, Arsenal only had one attacking option in the form of the inexperienced Alex Iwobi and therefore no real option to change the game. However, Wenger had other ideas and should receive great praise for getting his side back into the game with such a lack of resources.

Going into the second half, the priority was to address the balance of the midfield battle and tip it in Arsenal’s favour. On came Mathieu Flamini at the start of the second period and suddenly Arsenal had added bite in midfield.  The Frenchman may not be the most talented footballer but he has great heart and spirit and is more than willing to put his foot in. Flamini’s energy and exuberance saw Arsenal gain a foothold in the game and suddenly chances were being created. Joel Campbell cut inside from the right flank and unleashed a curling shot which Lloris did well to save, before Giroud saw a header from an Ozil free kick come crashing off the crossbar. Then the two combined again, this time from a corner which saw Giroud head wide when completely unmarked in the six yard box.

As the game ticked on Cech made a fine save from Alderweireld and Arsenal needed to push on in search of an equaliser. It was somewhat strange therefore to see Wenger replace Campbell with Kieran Gibbs, a player who has come on in recent matches with the Gunners in the lead, to help shore things up on the left hand side. However, the substitution proved to be a masterstroke. Although Gibbs does now play at left back, he did start his career as a winger and showed his attacking prowess as he dominated Kyle Walker, even nut-megging the Tottenham defender at one point. With only 13 minutes left, Gibbs made his mark on the North London derby. A great ball from Ozil, towards the back post saw Gibbs get the better of Walker once again to stab the ball towards goal and Lloris could do nothing to stop it from crossing the line.

The Emirates went wild and from a position of seemingly no hope, Arsenal could count themselves unfortunate not to take all three points as Giroud forced a decent save from Lloris and saw another effort fly over the bar from yet another Ozil delivery.

At the end of the game the Gunners could be satisfied with a point. Tottenham had been all over them and Arsenal really had to dig deep to get themselves back into the match. Once again this was a sign of the maturity of this squad. In seasons gone by, with everything against them at halftime Arsenal would have folded and allowed the game to get away from them. This season however there is a new found steel to them and Arsenal deserve great credit for the way they dragged a point out of a seemingly impossible situation. Hopefully the international break will provide an opportunity for the number of injuries to subside and for the Gunners to be in a better position when the league season resumes so that Arsenal can push on.