In one of the best Premier League games so far, Arsenal and Tottenham drew 2-2 on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium in London for the fourth round. Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino’s side opened 2-0 but, playing at home, the Gunners did not give up, and went on to level the derby.
On the pitch, the London derby has lived up to the greatness of both teams and has been fought intensely. So intense that there were six yellow cards in general in the match. Three for each side, but to make up for that, we witnessed very good moves, and goals.
In the first half, Tottenham’s strategy was perfect. The Spurs were able to withstand the pressure of his rival, who tried to be aggressive with the attacking trio formed by Aubameyang, Lacazette and the newly hired Pepe, and took advantage of the hosts’ mistakes to open the scoring.
10 minutes into the match, after a quick counterattack, goalkeeper Leno dropped a relatively easy shot from Lamela into Eriksen’s foot, as the Danish had almost no work on tapping it into the back of the net. 0-1 Spurs.
Arsenal tried to push for the equalizer yet in the first half, but Spurs could defend well and were awarded a penalty on 40 minutes, as Xhaka fouled Son in the area. Harry Kane was the taker and converted from the spot. 0-2 Tottenham.
It looked like the first half would end up like that, however, five minutes later, Arsenal’s insistence was awarded. Frenchman Lacazette received the ball in the area, rounded the defender, and slotted a beautiful finish home past Hugo Lloris. It was surely Arsenal’s lifeline to keep going in the match. 1-2.
In the second half, the panorama was similar. What changed was that Arsenal didn’t make that many errors and the talent of their front players made a difference again. This time it was Aubameyang who showed up to score. The striker was triggered by a good cross from Guendouzi in the box, as the Gabonese striker stretched himself to slot home. 2-2.
Arsenal could have even seized the winner, but the VAR ruled out Sokratis’ late goal, as the match finished like that. 2-2.
The result left Arsenal with seven points, five behind leaders Liverpool, in fifth place in the table. Tottenham have five points and appear only in ninth place.