Spurs hold Arsenal in thrilling North London derby

Arsenal and Tottenham each took home a share of the spoils after a thrilling 2-2 draw in the North London Derby on Sunday.

Son Heung-min twice pulled the visitors back from a goal down after Bukayo Saka had forced an own goal from Cristian Romero before scoring from the penalty spot himself. Son had already given Arsenal an early warning when he put the ball in the net after just five minutes, though he was miles offside and it was ruled out.

Spurs stopper Guglielmo Vicario was the busier of the two keepers in the first half and made terrific saves to deny Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah. But he could do little about the opener when Bukayo Saka’s deflected shot flew in off Cristian Romero’s knee.

Arsenal pressed high and forced Tottenham into numerous errors – one of which Jesus should have capitalised on when he blazed over after dispossessing James Maddison. Yet Spurs were always a threat on the counter-attack and pulled themselves level before half-time when Maddison squirmed away from Saka too easily before cutting back for Son to score off the post.

Arsenal didn’t take long to get back in front, as Ben White’s shot spun off Maddison’s boot onto the raised arm of Romero shortly after the break. Referee Robert Jones missed it but VAR had little choice but to overturn it and Saka clipped his penalty straight down the middle to restore the hosts’ advantage.

Minutes later Spurs were level again – through Son again – as Maddison pounced on Jorginho’s dallying on the ball before setting his team-mate in to slip the ball past Raya. Both teams pushed hard to grab a winner with Kai Havertz and Saka seeing late shots miss the target which could have sealed it, but ultimately both teams will be happy – and relieved – to emerge with something to show for their efforts.