It’s Déjà Vu Once Again for Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium
The 177th north London derby ends in a 1-1 draw between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
It’s déjà vu once again for Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium in back-to-back games, two seasons in a row in the Premier League. Last year, on September 27, 2014 Nacer Chadli got the game’s opening goal in the 56th minute and from there it looked as if Tottenham would get a win over Arsenal. But 18 minutes later. in the 74th minute, Alex Oxlade-Chamberain got the equalizer to spoil a Spurs win. Both clubs would share the points then, and history would repeat itself this season.
After a Harry Kane goal came in the first half, 32 minutes into the game, Tottenham had all of the momentum and advantage for a majority of the match. Spurs’ lead would last for an entire half (45 minutes) until Kieran Gibbs came on in the second half in the 74th minute. Three minutes later Gibbs equalized in the 77th minute to take two points away from Tottenham.
POPULAR: Mauricio Pochettino Analyzes Tottenham’s Season So Far
Getting a point over Arsenal is a moral victory in of itself for Tottenham, but this game should have ended in a Spurs win considering how the second half started unraveling for Arsenal in Tottenham’s favor. Both managers will be disappointed that they couldn’t get a win but will be happy to earn a point.
However with that being said, there should be no question that Mauricio Pochettino would have liked to leave the Emirates with three points to get his team closer to fourth place in the league table. As it stands, Tottenham are fifth due to a higher goal differential over West Ham United, but four points behind Manchester United.
Despite the result, make no mistake about it, Tottenham were great in this game. The stats might not mean much but when Spurs beat Arsenal in shots, dribbles, passing and aerial duels at the Emirates Stadium, then those are positive things to take moving forward. Including another goal from an in-form Harry Kane.
The 22-year-old striker started the Premier League season slowly, going nine games with only one goal. It wasn’t a good start for sure, but his bad form wouldn’t last and it has picked up relatively quickly.
Following a hat-trick against Bournemouth, Harry Kane would score against Aston Vill and Arsenal to make it three straight Premier League games. If we include the Europa League match against R.S.C. Anderlecht in the second leg, that’s four consecutive games with a goal to bring Kane’s season tally to 7 goals in 17 appearances which is reminiscent to Harry Kane’s season last year when he became a permanent starter for Tottenham on November 9, 2014.
More from Hotspur HQ
- Storybook ending after difficult period for Tottenahm’s Richarlison
- Tottenham comeback showcased invaluable intangible Ange has cultivated
- Tottenham player ratings in 2-1 comeback win over Sheffield United
- Tottenham projected starting 11 for Sheffield United
- Tottenham’s Richarlison says he’s going to seek psychological help
So, whatever ends up happening to Harry Kane’s goal scoring form from here on out, the England international is back and a scoring threat once again.
It took a while but that’s what happens when teams focus on you more often as a part of their game plan. Should Kane cool off for a couple of games, that shouldn’t be a worry as he knows, Mauricio Pochettino knows and the entire team knows, that the 22-year-old will score again.
Now with the positives out of the way, let’s move on to a more serious subject and something to take note of. First and foremost, this isn’t a knock on Tottenham in any way, but it is the reality that Spurs and their supporters should acknowledge.
While getting points over bigger clubs is great — in any way possible, wins or even draws — in the grand scheme of things, Spurs still can’t beat the “Fantastic Five” consistently to make much of a difference.
Next: Tottenham 1-1 Arsenal: Spurs Great Despite Result
In the year of 2015, Tottenham have had impressive wins over Chelsea (5-3 on 1/1/15), Arsenal (2-1 on 2/7/15) and Manchester City (4-1 on 9/26/15) but they’re mostly seen as anomalies at best. Until Spurs can beat Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United enough times and get points over them in consecutive seasons — consistently. Then and only then, can Tottenham claim that they’re one of the elite clubs in the Premier League.
As it stands right now, Tottenham are currently a secondary elite club, which isn’t bad per se, but it could be better. In due time, Tottenham will challenge for a top four finish consistently as long as Mauricio Pochettino is the manager.