Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Xhaka, Ozil, Iwobi, Walcott, Alexis
Subs: Ospina, Gabriel, Gibbs, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Elneny, Giroud
—
Arsenal conceded a second half equaliser from the penalty spot as they drew 1-1 with Sp*rs at the Emirates today.
Arsene Wenger made some changes from the team which beat Ludogorets in midweek, with Alexis starting up front, Alex Iwobi back on the left, and Theo Walcott, Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin all returning to action.
The visitors had the first sight of goal when Walker headed over a Rose cross at the back post, and they should have made more of an opportunity when Son burst past Mustafi down the left but after getting into the box his final pass was thankfully quite poor.
Wimmer picked up a booking for a foul on Coquelin as both sides sized each other up, and Arsenal seemed very flat in the opening twenty minutes. That was summed up when they allowed Sp*rs to find a man too easily from a throw in, and when Eriksen crossed into the box, Kane’s flicked header skidded just wide of the post.
Arsenal’s attacking play was limited to some offsides, and a volley from Coquelin which hit Walcott and rebounded to safety. Alexis started a move which saw him fire a shot over the bar, and there were just some signs that the Gunners might be starting to get going.
Mesut Ozil fired wide from the edge of the box, and in the 32nd minute brilliant work from Sanchez and the German created Arsenal’s best chance of the game, but Iwobi’s side-footed attempt was tame and easily saved by Lloris.
We were almost ahead in the 38th minute when Walcott crashed a shot off the post with the keeper beaten and Ozil could only volley the first-time rebound over with his right foot.
It felt like a goal was coming, and so it was. When Bellerin was fouled in midfield, Mark Clattenburg awarded a free kick when he might have played an advantage. However, it worked out well as Ozil curled in the free kick, Wimmer saw two Arsenal men ahead of him, and nodded the ball into his own net. 1-0.
Arsenal took the lead into half-time and the second period began without any changes from either manager.
Koscielny was thankful to the pace of Bellerin after the defender’s whizzing tackle saved his blushes when he’d been nutmegged by Son, but the Arsenal captain was guilty moments later when he fouled Dembele in the box, giving Sp*rs a chance to equalise from the spot. Kane stepped up and made no mistake to make it 1-1.
When Clattenburg ignored two clear fouls on Ozil and Mustafi, there was a chance for Eriksen to put them ahead, but Cech made a smart save down at his right hand side.
The goal seemed to energise Sp*rs and but for an outstanding block by Monreal at the back post, Kane would have doubled his tally. At the other end an Iwobi cross almost found the head of Xhaka but the ball drifted agonisingly over the Swiss international’s head.
Arsene Wenger made his first change in the 64th minute, bringing on Aaron Ramsey for Coquelin. Koscielny picked up a yellow card for a foul on Kane, before the Arsenal manager showed his intentions by putting on Giroud and Oxlade-Chamberlain for Walcott and Iwobi in the 71st minute.
Ramsey fired one over, Bellerin saw a shot blocked at close range, and it was quite frenetic at times with no side taking real control or applying periods of pressure.
Arsenal had the post to thank in the 83rd minute when an Eriksen free kick from out wide bounced into the box and rebounded away off the upright. A dangerous Alexis cross was headed away from Giroud by Vertonghen, and there was almost a real mishap when Cech slipped as the ball was being played back to him, but he just got there ahead of Son.
Giroud directed a header straight at Lloris as we entered 5 minutes of added time, but there was to be no hero on the day and the game ended in the draw.
Hard fought point, can’t fault the lads’ attitude. I thought they played with too much passion and some of the final balls by them (Ox, Alexis, Bellerin) were overhit badly. In the end, both teams had the chance to win, so can’t really fault the result.
On the bright side, Sp*rs scored two goals, with us scoring none, and they still failed to win. (Eternal optimist)
Only regret I have is how slow we start the 2nd half. It’s like we didn’t learn anything from the first half. That said you’re right the 3 point advantage is still there and I’ll be positive about that.
Fantastic header by that bloke!
Chelsea have overtaken us and Liverpool have a 2 point advantage, so fuck being positive.
Wenger’s substitutions were an absolute joke. He killed the game when he took off Coquelin, who was probably our best player at the time.
Very disappointed with the officials again.
How did Wimmer and Wanyama stay on the pitch…
Really? From what i see i think we have superior quality but lacked the heart of their players. Which is a pity. Adding that stupid Koscielny tackles to it, just sumed us up. “Just a top four club” is literally what we are. Lastly, please sell Chambo. He waste us atleast 5 min in this game.
That´s a fair comment from Warm. Does not deserve a down vote. Stop being so codependent with this team.
Ox was rubbish today.I don’t remember one thing that he did right.Add the fouls in ,he was atrocious today.I would have subbed him off,if there was any substitution left.
Yeh everything he touched turned into sh*t.. they just wanted it more tbf we were second to everything, lost so many duels.
Won’t really say that both teams had equal chances. The spuds were pretty happy playing for a draw, we were the only team on the pitch who wanted the 3 points. But yeah, as much as we are disappointed on not going top of the league before the break, can’t really fault the attitude and commitment. 27 games to play and this is the stuff champion teams are made of #COYG
Really disappointed with the result. Should’ve put them to the sword in the first half but final ball, composure and a little bit of luck were missing. I have to say when Ramsey, Giroud and Ox came on it felt a lot like watching the Arsenal of the last couple of years, you know the one that wasn’t as good as the current one… Our style is far more progressive this season and I feel that at least for now they remain our plan B. It does feel as though Arsene wants the Xhaka-Ramsey combo in the centre though. For… Read more »
Positives: we looked ok, fought hard.
Negatives: Sanchez had a poor game. Ozil really should finish at least one of his chances. Bad luck on the penalty when dembele is already diving when fouled and really was not trying to score. Penalty rule really needs an update.
I completely disagree with you. There was no urgency to win the game. Most of the guys were flat today. I am wondering if it was the same game we watched. Ramsey, Alaxis, Chemberlin, Ozil and Iwobi were below par today. The changes didn’t make sense. Wenger should get his buts up sometimes to redirect the guys instead of seating tight like a stamp.
I think maybe the midweek game didnt help. Bit flat today. Sp*rs have a good defense too.
Well, at least we are still above them.
Should’ve won, but could’ve easily lost. I’ll take a draw.
After we win the games against PSG and Maureen. In retrospect, this would look like a good result.
They were there for the taking, a bit more composure, we would have ended their unbeaten run, as well as topped the table.
However, November and the ref can fuck off
This. 1. The penalty was soft: soft from us, and soft from the ref. 2. Dembele’s low centre of gravity and strength mean he’s hellishly difficult to knock off the ball, but when he gets to the edge of the penalty area, suddenly he falls over very easily. In short, he’s launched himself into the contact, but Kos was brainless for sticking out his leg, and he should never have gotten that close to the area anyway. 3. It’s difficult to overstate how important that moment was: we gained the ascendancy in the last 20 minutes of the first half,… Read more »
I suppose it was a fair result. I expected more from us. We gave them so much space. We didn’t have the great passing that we’re used to seeing. I don’t think Xhaka and Elneny partnership works. With Cazorla out, Wilshire would have been the one player that could have been the difference. Bring on Man U!
It was Xhaka and Coquelin, not Elneny. No doubt we miss Cazorla, but I didn’t think the combination was doing that badly. And rusty Wilshere would not have been an improvement on any of them.
I was so pissed off with the performance and the result I got midfield duo names wrong!
Have we seen Xhaka and Elneny enough to judge that?
Elneny didnt play today. And wilshere would get very minimal playing time here, sure he would get the odd game here and there, but he really needs a full season of football, which he is getting.
Elneny and Xhaka played in the first round of the league cup and looked fucking awesome.
Against Reading!
Nope. Against Nottingham.
I know this isn’t an argument but I just want to kick every sp*rs player in the face, they all look the same — such an annoying looking bunch of cunts, especially Dier and that crayon eater who wasn’t good enough to play for us, can’t remember his name
Awesome comment dude. Made me laugh. I feel the same way. Clearly spuds strategy is to foul professionally. Wanyama is a meathead who’s obviously been told to commit little fouls continuously.
Really disappointing. These are the games we have to Windows.
Win for fucks sake. WIN. Don’t ever buy Sony Xperia. Autocorrect sucks.
Keep ur views readymade with corrections as soon as u see the report copy paste and voila?
That was strange, doctor.
Indeed
Remind me not to see you for medical treatment doctor.
Text From Doctor Strange:
‘Dear Naz, we can confirm your blood test results and you tested positive for HIV’
Two weeks later
‘Dear Naz,
Sorry, we meant hives. Damn Autocorrect.’
!
Can’t you just turn off the auto-correct feature? I did.
I’m the doctor not a technician.
I thought this was a joke about Harry Kane licking windows, so it wasn’t all that bad.
Still feels like some of the teammates are not on the same wavelength.
Well, in the end it had to come down to the fact if could maintain a clean sheet or not. They do have the meanest defense in the league. We should have been able to defend the 1-0 lead when we were up.
I hate shit
Disappointing. We’ll get beaten by a crap Utd team if we play like that
Also, what was Ox on today?
Ox did nothing when he came on, but fair enough- neither did Theo apart from that one rocket off the post. And Ramsey should be banned from taking shots from outside the box. All his shots go into row Z and waste an attack. Iwobi needs a goal so he can get over these shooting yips he has, he completely bottled a glorious chance there. People are probably going to bag our big players for this one but I thought Ozil and Alexis tried their guts out (especially Ozil who was in everything, thought he was our best today). In… Read more »
I am not sure if I observed rightly, so, someone please correct me if I am wrong. I think I noticed Ramsey walking casually a lot of times while he should have been attacking to get the ball back. He was a sub and you expect your subs to bring in extra passion and fresh legs above everything else. Also, he was in the midfield today; it was his prime responsibility to do that.
It’s baffling how he messes up the easiest passes.
Wimmer made a clear statement which club he’d rather be playing for with what must have been the header of his career. We should sign him.
Yeuk!
I dont disagree with the penalty call but before it out coq was being pulled pretty hard
not a bad result guys. Just pick ourselves up for the next game. Defence still leaving few questions unanswered and Cazorla hopefully returns fit and buzzing for us next time. Honestly Alexis needs a rest .He has a horribly packed schedule for November and hopefully he doesn’t pick up an injury.
#COYG
Actually thought we were OK. They always go on the attack from the off and we matched them all the way for the first 20 minutes or so. Think we lost a bit of belief and gave the fuckers too much respect.
Does Ozil get an assist to his credit?
According to what I read from on Arsenal’s Twitter feed, Ozil will be credited with an assist.
Ozil should get a credit.
It was Ozil’s genius and trickery left the defender no option but to score a beautiful own goal, the defender must have known that was inevitable that it was going to be a goal before he even headed it.
Ozil could play snooker with that foot.
I don’t believe there is an assist on an own goal. Shame really, because the ball in from Ozil was sumptuous.
I think it is a fair result in the end, but had to say a bit disappointed with the penalty giveaway, sort of killed the momentum.
that felt like some teammates weren’t playing together as an arsenal side should. Iwobi and Coq looked especially off and Ox when he came on wasn’t great either. Monreal was standout imo. Draw was much better than losing. pity we couldn’t win and go top though.
Very very poor. Extremely disappointed with the boys. We should’ve beaten these guys no excuses…they were without Alderwereld, alli, Sissoko and had a half fit Harry Kane playing. Iwobi has his worst game ever. Mustafi and Koscienly were poor. Alexis was invisible. Ozil too. Our passing was poor. Xhaka and Coq were the ones that did ok. Anyone who thinks this is a good point is not being honest. It’d take a miracle to find spuds this weak again. Once again bottling a chance to go clear on top. Thank God for interlull. 5 games now in the league we’ve… Read more »
Calm down. That was frustrating on all kinds of levels. But no need to blow it out of proportion. And no need to spew your opinion as though it’s the only true one; I think it was an ok point–not great but not a disaster either. I think Wenger’s reading of it is about right. I suppose haters are going to hate though, so have at.
We were missing Cazorla. CAZORLA! Probably our most important player. I’m tired of hearing Sp*rs fans and the media bleat about them missing players. We’re ALWAYS missing 2-3 first team players AT LEAST, we just have a much better squad so it goes unnoticed. Giroud and Ramsey have just come back from longterm injury and Mert and Perez and Welbz are out and Walcott and Nacho and Hector were all injured in midweek and needed late fitness tests.
That ref though…..
He was terrible as his child’s haircut.
Aye. Fucking shit!
I think we were too wound up for this game, far too much clumsiness on our part.
Three years in a row of the same old shit against Pochettino’s Tottenham at the emirates; disjointed, average performance, and we only come away with a 1-1 draw rather than losing because they don’t have the cutting edge of a top team to really punish us. Oh and happy international break everyone- “everything is shit!!!!!”
A very hearty derby! Heart in mouth for most of that second half… Ox was just all over the place trying too much though, the only sub that actually went wrong. A disappointing result but a very entertaining match nonetheless. COYG
Wimmer played for us in the 1st half… Ox for them in the 2nd half?
And i dont remember our gk saving an penalty from open play since i have been supporting arsenal ie 2012 ?
I know this won’t be a popular viewpoint, but I am getting more and more convinced that Cech is now just an average keeper who occasionally has a brilliant game..not that he was to blame for anything in particular today, just in general..
Kept us in the game with eriksen save…. Cech’s gk methods are like ozil skills. Always goes unnoticed when seen live but replays show em the real thing
Cech is world class GK when you need him he always makes important saves he did it today he did it at sunderland he did against swensea at home and many more, but when it comes to penalties I think he is worst GK anticipating a penalty I didn’t see him once going to the right side let alone save a penalty even almunia saved couple for us. But lets not kid ourselves is not chech fautl that we gave a stupid penalty no matter if it was soft or not and especially experience player like KOS. when you know… Read more »
I have witnessed a disturbing amount of penalties going straight down the middle of the goal. Just once, I would love to see a GK stand there on the spot… and take a simple catch. 🙂
I remember Fabianski saving Thomas Muller’s penalty (2012-13 season I think it was)
Our midfield performance was just below our expectations. Loosing the ball easily and wrong decision making around or in the box.
Sp*rs controlled the game emotionally a fact so hard to admit. Anyway there’s always next time to f**k these wankers.
It would be sweater when we crush them and the shit lane.
Everytime i saw FK sp*rs, i read fuck sp*rs in the liveblog.
How the hell did all our best attackers managed to go missing together in a derby game is beyond me. Should have won this game. November is here indeed.
In my opinion It was because they played with 7 defensive players…
I think when they’ve lost Lamela, and Alli on top of that (plus Kane just came back) – Pocettino made the dicision that: OK – Let’s not to lose this game! (and with a little luck: one of their counter attack will make the difference in the and)
I think this is what is shown in this 2 stats:
They had 30 clearances (we had 15)
while we had 34 interceptions (they had 15)
Did any of you guys think that was a penalty? I thought Dembele knew exactly what he want doing after looking at the replays. The ref was shocking today to be honest, how did Wanyama not get a fucking yellow card in this game?
Oh well, we move on. More points up for grabs in November. Keep your heads up and COYG!
Dive. He’s going over as soon as he’s overrun the ball. The contact from Koscielny is after the cheat has already tossed himself towards the ground.
Thought Clattenberg was really good, actually. I don’t expect zero mistakes from a ref, don’t think he made any crucial mistakes (penalty was a little soft but it’s there, Kos’ mistake for handing it to Dembele on a platter). Wanyama not getting a yellow isn’t really here or there. I’m sure the Spuds are going to spend all week complaining that the own goal should have been ruled out for offside (they’re wrong, goes without saying, but they still will).
“penalty was a little soft” understatement of the year, here.
Whether soft or not, it was definitely a penalty!
“Whether soft or not, it was definitely a penalty”
Maybe so, but what happened to the indirect free kick in the box rule? “Soft” pks should not be a thing. The purpose of the pk to keep players from cheating, not to encourage it.
Not really sure about that penalty tbh… Personally think Dembele was looking for it and got a really soft call from Clattenburg. Here’s a play-by-play of how he got it (watch the replays): 1. Dembele tugs on Coq’s shirt who stumbles (and thus fails to keep up), 2. Sticks a hand out against the oncoming Monreal, 3. *** Jumps with his back first into Kos the moment he sees that he’s in the penalty box – how is Kos going to be able to get a foot to the ball in those circumstances? Also seen much heavier fouls with no… Read more »
Probably could have done with this match not being after a tough away game in the CL. A draw is OK though as long as we batter them at the Drain.
Good game overall from the boys. Was a bit disappointed that our subs weren’t able to have an impact today. Thought Girouds timing with the headers was a bit off and the OX had completely horrible 25 minutes today. Ramsey was the best of the 3 for me but also struggled to make things happen. But we have showed this season that we are able to learn from such games and I’m optimistic that we will again. Still up there, still unbeaten since the opening day. Even though I would have loved to be responsible for their first defeat it’s… Read more »
Clattenburg was shockingly bad today, even for his usual low standard… I mean, Mike Dean levels of incompetence allowed for time wasting as early as 13 minutes, injuries being faked and taking four or five minutes to be addressed, players with head injuries being ignored, Wanyama being allowed to stay on the field after making foul after foul after foul- and then the blatant dive for the penalty.
We played below average today, sure, but playing against 12 men is difficult.
While Mike Dean seems to have wound his neck in after his dismal performance in the Arsenal – Chelsea game last year Clattenburg appears ever so ready to step into his shoes.
Agree he was horrible but it still was a clear penalty, Dembele tried to get a contact and got it.
Can’t argue with the penalty. But then there’s the Wannaharmya (or whatever his name is) wafting his arm in Walcott’s face and nothing. To name only one.
Wankyama is a fouling twunt spud. Spurs commit a high number of niggling fouls – clearly a game plan to break up play. There ought to be some cumulative foul penalty for this classless behaviour.
Not sure about the penalty; agree he was looking for it but I think he got it fairly in the end because he tricked Kos in fouling him. Wany whatever should have seen a yellow or two as well, though.
A timely reminder of why the Ox is not a top player; brought on to add some attacking impetus, spent the entire time fouling Rose and putting crosses out. In hindsight I think Elneny would have made more of a difference with Ramsey replacing Theo on the right.
Agree on Elneny. Ramsey, Ox, and OG were not on the wavelength required. Not even close. The last 20 minutes were like a horrible flashback to the most frustrating elements of last season:
Giroud visibly NOT SPRINTING into space or pressing in tandem with Alexis who NEARLY ALWAYS SPRINTS.
Ramsey squandering attacking opportunities instead of getting the ball to Alexis and Ozil.
And Ox reverting to a standard of play that isn’t worthy of the shirt.
Contrast this with Gibbs who hasn’t let us down when called upon.
I think Iwobi was off too today. I was screaming for Chambo to substitute Iwobi but oh well. The only substitution that worked well was Giroud IMO.
Ox today put in the worst cameo i’ve seen since Eboue vs Wigan. I just don’t think he works in this current Arsenal system
Remember seeing a tweet on Ox that was pretty to the point- “Ox is a good talent but a shit team mate”. Can you imagine the frustration Ozil/Alexis must feel when he does some of the things that we saw today? (that fucking shot :/ ). Hate to say it, but a team like Crystal Palace really seems more his level at this point.
A draw might have been a fair result, but it’s still really annoying
Slow start again in the 2jf half was disappointing, especially as we’d figure them out in the first half. For the penalty you have to make the tackle outside the box, give away a free kick if necessary but do not let him dribble that far..
We were marginally the better team IMO, but it was anyone’s game in terms of chances.
We were lucky Son totally bottled it against Cech at the end.
Wondering if Wenger might start Giroud at CF next game, Sanchez left, Walcott right, Iwobi benched. It kinda feels like the Sanchez CF experiment has started to run its course now that managers have had time to study it. Also Iwobi has faded off somewhat.
We were far too wound up for this game.. Chelski win feels like a distant memory now that they have the jump on us .. This is a spud team we should have beaten to take us top for the break.. What is up with chambo?? He Really disjointed the last ten minutes.. But I’ve also noticed iwobi has struggled in the last few..
A chance to go top of the league…PANIC!!!!!!
A decent point but it felt like a match we should have won after the first goal. The second half was all Clattenburg show unfortunately. In hindsight should have kept ox on the bench but it is easy to say afterwards. Alexis looks so much better as a striker than on the wing, was overplaying every situation in the end. Maybe next time try 4-4-2 with alexis and giroud on top when we try to win a match?
Did we have a European hangover again? Thought we should have protected our lead.
Every time the Spuds were in our box, I was worried we would concede another penalty…
Agree thought Kos and mustafi looked a bit clumsy today. Maybe it is time to rotate the CB’s a bit too? We have good options for the odd game in Gabriel and Holding.
They came to get a point and play for the draw, and though we gave them more chances than they deserved, they got their point. I could never root for a team that plays for draws; pathetic. We play every game to win, and Wenger’s subs screamed that loud and clear. When Cazorla is not available for us, though, we have to find a different set-up as we really miss him in the 4-2-3-1. When a team sets up with an overloaded midfield against us, we need to push the battle deeper into their end with a 4-1-3-2, putting two… Read more »
Yay!
Should’ve won, we didn’t, hard luck. Move on. Most of the moaning in the comments above is overblown, we were decent today.
Honestly, from A – Z today was rubbish. There was nothing positive to say about the team today. The changes were completely stupid. I couldn’t understand why Wenger brought in Ramsey and Chemberlin. Sometimes I wonder why Wenger makes changes… was it to apease a player or is it because it necessary? He finds it difficult to know when a player is useless. Let no one be fooled by the two goals Chembarlin scored against Reading. The guy is useless. Er better cash in now and get rid of him. I couldn’t understand why Eleney didn’t play.
Tottenham were shit but so were we for much of the time. Can’t help feel that we wasted this one and then there’s that niggling sensation that in a few months time we might be looking back and saying “if only we’d won that, that and that game we’d be clear at the top instead of fighting for the 4th”. I of course hope that won’t be the case but we could have done with those three points today. While the Spuds sat back in the last 30 minutes seemingly content securing a draw we kept chasing a win and… Read more »
Are we back to being inconsistent in patches?
Maybe but I still think there’s more fight in this current squad when we hit a rough patch than there has been in previous seasons. A game like today would had seen us concede 2 years ago while nowadays we grind on and keep going until the end.
We really miss having a target man in the middle. The better defending clubs are happy to let us play wide and try crosses as their back lines easily handle the lack of aerial threat from Alexis, Ozil, Theo and Iwobi. As limited as Giroud is, he’s a genuine threat in the air, and his runs (typically to near post, occasionally to far) challenge the central defenders. The final ball from Monreal and Bellerin aren’t typically of high quality either.