Arsenal made a concerted effort to hand another defeat to their long-standing rivals at the Emirates Stadium, a place where Tottenham has only managed one victory in 31 attempts, the last one dating back to 2010. However, in the end, Tottenham mounted two comebacks to secure a draw.
Heung-Min Son’s brace nullified an own goal by Cristian Romero and a penalty converted by Bukayo Saka. Both teams had moments of dominance, but neither could find the decisive blow.
Both teams are aware of their potential to deliver exciting football this season, but it seems that Manchester City remains a step ahead of the two sides, both of which have defensive vulnerabilities that could undermine their ambitions.
Ange Postecoglou arrived at the match dressed in somber attire, resembling funeral attire with a black suit and tie. The opening half-hour indicated that his team might be in for a difficult time. They struggled to cope with Arsenal’s relentless pressing and could have easily fallen behind by more than one goal before they eventually asserted themselves.
Son managed to steer the ball into the net off the far post to equalize before halftime, thanks to a near-post cross from James Maddison. Earlier, a flowing move had almost resulted in an equalizer.
A superb save from David Raya to his right prevented Brennan Johnson from converting a cross from Son, following excellent work by Dejan Kulusevski.
Arsenal was left frustrated by their inability to add to their 26th-minute opener, which came when Saka cut inside from the right edge of the area, and his off-target shot was inadvertently guided into the net by Romero.
Gabriel Jesus had already forced Guglielmo Vicario into making an excellent save from an angled attempt, and Eddie Nketiah almost capitalized on a misplaced backpass by Destiny Udogie. Jesus also missed a straightforward chance after dispossessing Maddison in the penalty area, shooting over the bar.
Arsenal regained the lead early in the second half when VAR alerted referee Robert Jones to Romero’s handball on the goal line as he attempted to block a shot from Ben White. Saka calmly converted the resulting penalty.
However, within a minute, the score was level once again when Jorginho, who had come on at halftime, was caught in possession by Maddison, and a simple pass to Son resulted in an easy tap-in for the South Korean.
The match remained evenly balanced even with nearly 10 minutes of added time, and neither team could change the outcome.