It was a North London Derby to remember Sunday at the Emirates as Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal finished deadlocked at 2-2 sharing points. It was a back-and-forth battle between the bitter rivals with Spurs showing incredible resilience, fighting back to earn a draw after falling behind in both halves. The Lillywhites were led by their newly appointed captain Heung-Min Son who accounted for both goals in an inspiring performance.
Arsenal star-boy Bukayo Saka opened the scoring in the 26th minute, cutting inside the 18-yard box from the right side and curling a shot towards goal. The shot looked to be going wide before Tottenham CB Cristian Romero stuck out his leg in hopes of clearing the chance, but ended up deflecting the winger’s attempt on goal and past his own goalkeeper to open the scoring for the home club.
The goal was instantly ruled as an own goal but that certainly didn’t stop Saka from starting some banter by doing his England teammate James Maddison’s dart celebration right in front of the broadcast cameras. The Emirates was rocking after securing their first lead of the contest, with momentum looking to be on their side going into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead.
That momentum came to a screeching halt shortly before halftime in the 42nd minute as Maddison gained his revenge on Saka, taking him on and beating him off the dribble at the touchline before slipping a ball in the box to Sonny. The South Korean sensation one-timed the ball to the back post with his left foot, leveling the game for Tottenham at the perfect time.
The second Arsenal goal did not come without controversy as a penalty was awarded in the 54th minute. A corner played into the box fell at the feet of defender Ben White looking to score only his third EPL goal in 112 appearances. White fired a shot in the crowded area on goal but the ball didn’t reach the Spurs keeper Vicario as it was deflected by Romero’s arm/hand. The Argentinian defender’s tough day continued as a penalty was awarded after a lengthy delay for a VAR check.
Saka stepped up to the spot and rifled an incredible penalty right down the middle against Vicario, giving Arsenal a 2-1 advantage. The 22-year-old phenom kept up the pettiness doing Maddison’s darts celebration once again. The Gunner’s second lead was gone in a flash though as Maddison continued his stellar performance, stealing the ball from the feet of Jorginho and instantly putting Spurs on the counterattack.
All of a sudden, Madders and Sonny found themselves in a two-on-one break and the dynamic duo was nothing but cool under pressure. The England international led Sonny on goal who buried the finish in one touch for his second goal of the match. Just like that, the game was equalized a second time and that was all it took for Tottenham to carry onto the final whistle and secure a draw.
There were a couple of dangerous chances from both sides after the second leveler from Son but nothing clinical enough to find its way in the back of the net for a winner. After the match, Maddison had an incredible response to Saka mocking his celebration not once, but twice.
While they didn’t grab all three points, the result felt like a positive one for Tottenham. Going on the road into an incredibly hostile environment and fighting your way back into the game multiple times to steal a point just shows the spirit within the club at the moment. The unbeaten streak is still alive for Spurs with another tough test coming up this Saturday returning home to take on Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool squad.