Arsenal vs Tottenham match report: North London derby ends all square as Harry Kane strikes on return

Arsenal 1 Tottenham 1: The home side took the lead courtesy of Kevin Wimmer's calamitous own goal but couldn't hold on with Kane converting from the spot to level the score

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur can win the Premier League title, but will not do so playing like this. This was Arsenal’s chance to go top, Spurs’ chance to go third, but they both missed out. This was a drawn derby which showed the limitations of both sides, and will not have given too much scare to Manchester City, Liverpool and the improving Chelsea.

Arsenal had the game where they wanted in the first half, scored, but could not kill it. Spurs came back into the second half, equalised, had chances to win it but could not take them either. The draw was a fair result and leaves Spurs, who came into the game in worse form, the happier side.

For Arsenal there was a very clear feeling of an opportunity lost. Three points would have moved them ahead of City and Chelsea and beyond the reach of Liverpool. The draw, their second at home in a row, leaves them heading into the international break knowing that they have not quite fulfilled their potential over the last few weeks. This was a chance to pull away for Spurs, a chance for Arsene Wenger to beat Mauricio Pochettino for the first time, and they missed it.

Mousa Dembele and Alexis Sanchez vie for the ball early on in the game (Getty)

Wenger’s side have found it difficult to play against Pochettino’s Spurs and here it took them 20 minutes to get to grips with their new 3-4-1-2 system. Arsenal are not the same team without Santi Cazorla, and with their Spanish conductor still missing with an Achilles problem they lacked tempo and control in possession. Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin are good players but neither can do what Cazorla does.

This meant that Arsenal’s best moments in the first half were all on the break. Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil were as good as usual. Sanchez made one chance for Ozil, which was dragged wide, and another for Alex Iwobi, who shot meekly straight at Hugo Lloris from a good position. But Arsenal were starting to pick up and when Theo Walcott thundered a first-timer against the woodwork it felt as if a goal was coming.

Sure enough, Arsenal took the lead with three minutes left, although few would have predicted the goalscorer. When Mesut Ozil whipped in a left-footed free-kick, Kevin Wimmer was distracted by Alexis Sanchez, in an offside position, and headed past Lloris into the far bottom corner of the net.

That sent Arsenal into half-time with the lead and the game was there for them to take. Spurs are tired, low on confidence and were looking vulnerable at the back. Arsenal should have pushed on and recorded a win that would have been a serious statement against their local rivals. But when they needed a powerful authoritative second half performance, they produced nothing. Spurs fought back into the game and had better chances to win 2-1.

Kevin Wimmer accidentally heads the ball into his own net to hand Arsenal the lead (Getty)

That is why Pochettino was far more upbeat than Wenger afterwards, and why this felt like an important moment in Spurs’ faltering season. They came to the Emirates just three days after one of the worst disappointments of the Pochettino era, their Wembley no-show against Bayer Leverkusen. They had lost their fluency, confidence and speed, and have been nowhere near the side that nearly stormed to the title last season.

Here, at least, Spurs had two positive changes. First, the return of Harry Kane after seven weeks out with an ankle injury. He led the line with enthusiasm, giving Spurs an edge they have desperately lacked. And, for just the second time in his Spurs tenure, Pochettino played with a back three, using a 3-4-1-2 system that Arsenal took some time to figure out.

This gave Spurs an early stability in the game, and more of an open-play threat than they have had in weeks. Heung-Min Son, partnering Kane, made some dangerous runs in behind. Mousa Dembele, who shook off an ankle injury sustained on Wednesday, gave Tottenham presence and control in the middle. If there was a weakness to Spurs it was Wimmer, who had been given a very difficult time by Sanchez even before his own-goal.

Harry Kane celebrates his equaliser (Getty)

What was impressive about Spurs was that they did not collapse, despite being 1-0 down and up against it. They started the second half with an intensity and force that caught Arsenal off-guard. Son set the tempo with a good break down the left, but it was a run from Dembele that brought the equaliser. He carried the ball close to Laurent Koscielny, who tried to steal it but only tripped Dembele. Mark Clattenburg gave the penalty kick and Kane scored it.

Spurs were level and on top, and should have gone in front. Christian Eriksen hit a left foot volley that forced Petr Cech to save well, before Nacho Monreal had to tackle Kane just when he was about to convert Danny Rose’s cross. That was Spurs’ moment, but when Kane went off for Vincent Janssen they lost that open-play threat again. Their last chance was from a set piece, as Eriksen’s crossed free-kick missed everyone and hit the far post.

It was a fiery, well-contested affair at the Emirates (Getty)

This was not Spurs at their best, but it was a long way from Spurs at their worst too. The fluency will have to return for them to match last year’s third place finish but at least they have their stability back. And they are still, 11 games into the season, unbeaten in the Premier League, which is testament to their character and resilience.

Arsenal, ultimately, are likelier to win the title this year than Spurs and yet this second half felt like an argument for why they might not. Not only did they allow Spurs back into the game, but they barely created anything themselves. Olivier Giroud came on and gave them some presence up front, and would have won the game from a Sanchez cross but for a Jan Vertonghen header. They go into the international break in fourth, rather than first, wondering when their next chance to get their there might be.