Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are level at half time in the north London derby in the Premier League.
An Eberechi Eze volley on 32 minutes put Mikel Arteta’s side ahead, before Randal Kolo Muani equalised after stealing the ball off Declan Rice just two minutes later.
Mikel Arteta’s league leaders are looking for a response to their disappointing midweek draw at bottom side Wolves. Tottenham, under newly appointed interim manager Igor Tudor, are fighting to avoid relegation after a disastrous season so far.
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Little hiding how much Arsenal had of that first half, but Tottenham won’t feel like they are out of the hunt for a win here. They’ll just need to be much more efficient than their visitors.
HT: Tottenham 1-1 Arsenal
Possession %: 27 — 73
Shots: 2 — 12
On target: 1 — 3
XG: 0.29 — 1.00
Big chances: 0 — 3
Blocked shots: 1 — 5
Touches in opposition box: 1 — 29
Duels won: 27 — 31
Dispossessed: 7 — 8
Getting into the Arsenal box would help too, of course.
There have been some interesting battles out there but the bright start from Bukayo Saka was something to behold.
He has been on some mazy runs and has caused problems today — can he be the difference in the second half?
Declan Rice, in particular, will not want to see that Spurs goal again.
His error in dallying on the ball allowed Kolo Muani to steal in and slam the ball home for the equaliser.
And that was just moments after the midfielder had called his team mates together to call for calm heads following Eze’s opener. Jinxed.
Gabriel is a touch fortunate to get away with that incident on Randal Kolo Muani.
The French striker was chasing down an Archie Gray lofted pass behind the Arsenal defender, which would have put him in on goal, when Gabriel — focused on Kolo Muani’s run — pulled his arm across the Spurs striker, forcing him down.
Had the referee decided it was a foul, it would have almost certainly been a red card for the Arsenal No 6.
A lengthy amount of added time here after those issues with the officials’ technology earlier. Eight minutes in total.
Meanwhile, it appears Declan Rice was the one pointing to his head and shouting at his team-mates immediately after Eberechi Eze scored — trying to remind his colleagues to not do anything stupid now they were ahead.
A few seconds later, Rice was the one losing the ball in his own defensive third as Spurs equalised.
The hands went up in apology pretty quickly after that.
Credit again to Radu Dragusin here, who’s had an impressive first half.
After recovering from an ACL injury that kept him sidelined for almost a year, the Romania international centre-back has played more minutes than anyone expected with injury and suspension issues across the backline.
Since returning to the team, he’s proven he can be relied upon.
It’s been a good response from Arsenal since the equaliser, and Leandro Trossard was within a few inches of rolling the ball the right side of the far post.
But Conor Gallagher’s involvement in the game is growing too, and this match is bubbling away very nicely right now.
A little bit of admin too. Archie Gray was booked in the aftermath of Spurs’ goal for kicking the ball away.
It’s been a good response from Arsenal since the equaliser, and Leandro Trossard was within a few inches of rolling the ball the right side of the far post.
But Conor Gallagher’s involvement in the game is growing too, and this match is bubbling away very nicely right now.
A little bit of admin too. Archie Gray was booked in the aftermath of Spurs’ goal for kicking the ball away.
Arsenal had control of the first 20 minutes of this match, but errors from each player in their backline and now Declan Rice have given Spurs a way back into the game.
That has been a theme of too many of their matches since the turn of the year, and when so many come in one half, punishment will come as a result.
They worked their opener well, but that work has been undermined.
Bukayo Saka makes it by his change of pace on the right, beating Pape Matar Sarr and pulling the ball back.
The first touch from Eze loops the ball up, and the second volleys home from about eight yards.
Lovely composed finish, that.