Tottenham Share Points in the North London Derby Again

The previous meeting in November ended in a 1-1 draw, this time around it ended 2-2. However, Tottenham had a chance for a win.

Leading up to this match, it had been billed as one of the most important north London derbies in recent memory considering what was on the line for both clubs: a chance to stake their claim and win the Premier League come May if either side took all three points.

In the end, that didn’t happen as Arsenal’s 1-0 lead heading into the break eventually disappeared. And Tottenham, who looked to be on their way to securing another home win over the Gunners in consecutive years, evaporated when Alexis Sánchez leveled the game.

After 90 minutes, a draw doesn’t seem well deserved for Tottenham. But perhaps Spurs shouldn’t feel too disappointed even if Leicester City have a chance to push further ahead in the league standings if they beat Watford later on today.

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The reason being, is because twice in this game Arsenal came back to weather the storm after Tottenham looked to be the better side throughout this game. Just as they did in the previous meeting.

Although the Gunners have had some rather lackluster results in their previous fixtures prior to this north London derby. Against Tottenham, Arsenal always shows up and today was no exception.

A Tottenham win was preferred no doubt, but after a dominating first half for Tottenham saw them trailing and then Arsenal going down to 10 men following Francis Coquelin’s ejection after receiving two yellow cards. Spurs took advantage of the situation early on but couldn’t add more to it near the end of the game.

Therefore, earning a point is actually better than losing back-to-back games.

Some first half set pieces could have gone differently (read as: don’t go for goal). Plus an awkward shot that hit Érik Lamela’s left shin but David Ospina was able to make the diving save.

As for the second half, there were some wide shots and others that went into the stands. These are fine because Tottenham were just trying to add more goals. Besides, simply calming oneself down isn’t exactly easy to do when this is a huge derby for everyone involved.

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That said, the writing was on the wall that a draw would be the final result as soon as Arsenal showed that they could withstand Tottenham’s flurry of chances, remain calm and fight back.

An Alexis Sánchez equalizer with under 15 minutes left proved that point. Although Gabriel almost gifted Spurs the win with a near own goal.

Moving on, with two results that could be considered unfavorable to many, the next Premier League game is all that more important: away to Aston Villa.

If a loss to West Ham had some thinking that it was the “least damaging” result (disappointing is the better term). Then letting the lead slip away from Arsenal is regrettable to say the least. A win was there for the taking, but perhaps Tottenham didn’t take full advantage like they could have.

Next: How Spurs Drew: North London Derby

So, this means that Tottenham must win against Villa to have any chance of catching up to Leicester City. Even if this wouldn’t be a talking point had Spurs won against West Ham and Arsenal in the first place.

But what’s done is done. Now, Tottenham need to look ahead to Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League but make sure a win at Villa Park happens. Otherwise the thought of securing Tottenham’s first title in 55 years will have to wait for another season.