Home » Teams » Arsenal » “Officials cost us top 4”, “The refs were at fault”: Some Arsenal fans furious after dismal 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur

“Officials cost us top 4”, “The refs were at fault”: Some Arsenal fans furious after dismal 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham vs Arsenal report: Arsenal match report

Tottenham hosted rivals Arsenal in a hugely important North London Derby. Mauricio Pochettino’s side faced the fear of the Gunners closing the gap between the pair to just a single point.

Unai Emery shocked gunners fans with the line-up as he benched Mesut Ozil, Lucas Torreira and top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Shkodran Mustafi was preferred over a fit-again Ainsley Maitland-Niles at right-back.

Jan Vertonghen passed a late fitness test for the hosts and started on the left side of a three-man defence.

The first chance of the game fell to Alexandre Lacazette after a deflected pass and the Frenchman missed a difficult volley chance. Tottenham maintained early possession but failed to create a meaningful chance.

Arsenal were not at their usual pressing best but were smart in their positioning and gave Mauricio Pochettino’s side little space to work with. The Gunners opened the scoring after Lacazette’s pass put Wembley king Aaron Ramsey through on goal and the Welshman sat Lloris down and finished with ease.

Spurs again found it difficult to create anything in the final third with both of Arsenal’s wingers tracking back to help the full-backs. A freekick by Kieran Trippier in the 27th saw Harry Kane head the ball home but was rightly disallowed as the Englishman was clearly offside.

Alex Iwobi drove into the 40th minute and his right-footed strike was saved by Lloris. Spurs really looked to turn up the tempo in the dying minutes of the first half but Bernd Leno’s spectacular double save kept the Gunners lead. Leno saved a close-range shot from Eriksen before making one of the saves of the season to deny Mousa Sissoko.

Arsenal deservedly went into the change rooms at half time with a 1-0 lead.

Lucas Torreira came on for the Gunners at the start of the second half in place of Matteo Guendouzi. The first chance of the half fell to Alexandre Lacazette after a brilliant build play on the left-hand side from Iwobi and Monreal but the Frenchman fired just wide.

The miss turned out to be his last contribution to the game as he was replaced by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Spurs made their first change by bringing off Wanyama for Erik Lamela in the 59th minute. The Argentine picked up a yellow card after a poor tackle and Granit Xhaka.

Danny Rose was the next Spurs player to go into the book after a studs-up challenge on Bernd Leno. The Englishman’s challenge looked nasty and was arguably lucky to stay on. Arsenal continued to frustrate their North London rivals who looked clueless in the final third. Mesut Ozil replaced goalscorer Aaron Ramsey in the 72nd minute and the Welshman received a standing ovation from the Arsenal fans.

Harry Kane, who looked offside in the replays, was pushed by Mustafi in the box and the referee awarded the hosts a penalty. Kane sent Leno the wrong way and levelled the game for Spurs. Granit Xhaka was booked in the aftermath of the penalty due to dissent.

Fernando Llorente replaced Son in the 78th minute as the hosts looked to kill off the game. The Spaniard was booked 5 mins after for an unintentional elbow in the face of Laurent Koscielny.

Arsenal won a penalty in the dying moments of the game after Davinson Sanchez pulled Aubameyang in the box. The Gabonese’s kick from the spot was saved by Hugo Lloris as Spurs held on. The drama continued as Lucas Torreira was sent off in the final minute of stoppage time after a tackle on Danny Rose. An enthralling 90 minutes came to an end as the hosts held on to a 1-1 draw into then.

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Here is what the Gunners fans thought after the North London derby