North London Derbies are always entertaining, and this version didn’t disappoint, with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur exchanging blows like a pair of belligerent drunks before finally splitting the points with a 1-1 draw.
3 things we learned from Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal are still prone to injuries and counterattacks; Spurs still need to hit their stride. And neither side will be entirely happy with the point.
Paul Gilham
The Gunners began the match on the front foot, though they weren’t creating anything against a reasonably disciplined Spurs back line. And that meant that they over-committed, with obvious results -- as bodies pulled forward, space opened up at the back, leaving the visitors free to hit them on the break. Repeatedly.
Unfortunately for Tottenham, they spent most of the first half spurning every glorious chance that came their way. It was a clinic in how not to play on breaks: bad pass selection, poor execution on the passes they did make, and not shooting when given the chance.
Spurs were causing problems, but Arsenal’s big issue in the first half was injuries. They lost captain Mikel Arteta at the half hour mark, saw Jack Wilshere go down after a kick to the ankle shortly thereafter and although the England international recovered the hosts had to make a second substitution before the break when Aaron Ramsey pulled his hamstring during injury time.
One of those injuries led directly to the first goal. Arteta's replacement, the shambling corpse of Mathieu Flamini, gave the ball away to Christian Eriksen inside the Arsenal defensive third, and although he managed to prevent the Danish midfielder from skipping forward, he could do nothing about Erik Lamela's run. Nacer Chadli, surging forward on the right, was duly played in, and he made no mistake in slotting past Wojciech Szczesny.
The hosts, who despite the goal were markedly improved in the second half, responded by bombarding Hugo Lloris’ goal, forcing a series of desperate defensive actions and a few good saves. And then Arsene Wenger rolled the dice, spending his last substitute on Alexis Sánchez. And their newly-found attacking impetus paid off. They ratcheted up the pressure, exploited a defensive mistake by Lamela and eventually -- despite Danny Welbeck virtually falling over the ball -- were rewarded with a smartly-taken equalizer from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who swept over Lloris from six yards.
After getting the goal, Arsenal remembered that they didn’t want to over-commit, and stopped attacking with quite so much impetus, which was enough for Tottenham to recover their breath and hold out for the final 15 minutes. Neither side will be entirely happy with the resultant point.
Arsenal starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Wojciech Szczesny; Kieran Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Calum Chambers; Mikel Arteta (Mathieu Flamini 28'), Aaron Ramsey (Santi Cazorla 45'); Mesut Özil, Jack Wilshere (Alexis Sánchez 63'), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Danny Welbeck.
Goals: Oxlade-Chamberlain 75’.
Tottenham Hotspur starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Hugo Lloris; Danny Rose (Eric Dier 83'), Jan Vertonghen, Younes Kaboul, Kyle Naughton; Etienne Capoue, Ryan Mason; Nacer Chadli (Nabil Bentaleb 80'), Christian Eriksen (Aaron Lennon 62'), Erik Lamela; Emmaneul Adebayor.
Goals: Chadli 56’.
3 things
- The injury bug still plagues Arsenal. It would be silly to say that any team that can keep Alexis Sánchez on the bench is lacking depth, but if the Gunners have had a problem over the past few years it's keeping their first eleven on the pitch, and today they managed to lose another pair when Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey were withdrawn at halftime.
This has long passed the point of coincidence, and no matter how many good players Arsenal stockpile, there's no way they can sustain a title challenge without taking better care of their team health. Normally, they have an injury crisis in spring, but this side turns out to be vulnerable year-round.
- The Gunners midfield is still horribly open. Despite Arsenal's wealth of attacking talent, they have significant problems creating unless they push their fullbacks and Aaron Ramsey up the pitch. And when they do that, they're forced to defend breaks with their center backs and whoever's playing in defensive midfield. This would be a significant problem even with a world-class holder, but the two that Arsene Wenger keep trotting out barely count as holders at all. Neither Mikel Arteta nor Mathieu Flamini have the pace to live with players running at them. Instead, they drop back, leaving vast chasms of space for attacking players to rush into.
It's ugly and completely impossible to fix, given the current squad. Arsenal are going to look vulnerable to the counter until at least January.
- Spurs incoherence. If Arsenal made themselves vulnerable to the counterattack, the visitors apparently took that as some sort of sneaky trick, because they spent much of their game willfully spurning the opportunities they had on fast breaks. Had they been more clinical with their play -- and this mostly comes down to Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela, who are tasked with stitching together their attacks -- they could have been well clear even after the first half.
Instead, their inability to turn dangerous situations into genuine chances cost them two points. Poor pass selection, poor execution and poor shot selection at the end of it? That's the mark of a team that doesn't quite have it together just yet.
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