2-2 v Arsenal FC - 5 March 2016 - Home

Tottenham Hotspur Badge

Spurs 2

Arsenal FC

Arsenal FC

2

  • Ramsey
    39'
  • Coquelin
    55'
  • Sánchez
    76'
Details
Match Number

7171

Opposition
Arsenal

Arsenal FC

Competition
Premier League

Premier League

Season

2015/16

Date

5th March 2016

Kick Off

12:45

Venue

White Hart Lane

Attendance

35,762

Referee

Michael Oliver

League Position

2nd

Opposition League Position

3rd

Opposition Form

LDWLDW

Weather at Kick Off

4.6° - Drizzle

Facts & Milestones
  • 7135th overall match (3395 wins, 1575 draws, 2152 losses)

  • 5558th competitive match (2492 wins, 1307 draws, 1759 losses)

  • team

    275th match vs Arsenal FC (97 wins, 66 draws, 112 losses)

  • competition

    915th Premier League match (370 wins, 236 draws, 309 losses)

  • 6528th match in England (3059 wins, 1470 draws, 1986 losses)

  • 2956th match at White Hart Lane (1731 wins, 636 draws, 589 losses)

  • There were 4 changes to the starting lineup from the last match.

Report

Alexis Sanchez's equaliser earned 10-man Arsenal an important point as Spurs missed the opportunity to go top of the Premier League in the north London derby at White Hart Lane.

Aaron Ramsey's instinctive flick gave Arsenal the lead just before the interval - but the game looked to have turned in the space of seven minutes before the hour.

Arsenal's Francis Coquelin was sent off on 55 minutes after being shown a second yellow card for a foul on Harry Kane, leaving the door open for Spurs to respond with two quick goals.

Toby Alderweireld scored at the far post before Kane curled in a magnificent angled right-foot finish after 62 minutes to put Spurs in command.

But Arsenal refused to back down and equalised 14 minutes from time when Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris let Sanchez's shot squirm through his grasp.

In contrast Arsenal's David Ospina, in for the injured Petr Cech, was heroic with outstanding saves from Erik Lamela, Kane and Christian Eriksen.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's plight could be measured in the amount of cameras that greeted him as he arrived in the technical area before kick-off - the natural indicator of either a new manager or a man under pressure.

Wenger fell into the latter category after damaging league defeats by Manchester United and Swansea City, but he will have left White Hart Lane a satisfied man.

Defeat would have turned up the pressure another notch, pushing that first title since 2003-04's 'Invincibles' season even further out of reach.

Instead, he will have been happier than his Spurs counterpart Mauricio Pochettino and will feel Arsenal have restored some equilibrium to a season that felt on the brink of implosion.

The Gunners are still in a reasonable position to challenge for the title - and Wenger would have taken that before kick-off.

Arsenal faced the usual questions - fully justified it should be said - about their stomach for a fight after succumbing to a youthful and injury-hit Manchester United and Swansea City in the past six days.

If there was ever a place to at least answer some of the questions it was on hostile territory at White Hart Lane. And they emerged with credit.

Pochettino 'disappointed' after Gunners draw The tide was flowing fast against them after Coquelin drew a stupid yellow card. It would have been easy to feel it was not their day but the Gunners hung in and their persistence was rewarded.

Wenger may feel his side might have gone on to win had they not been left with a numerical disadvantage - and they had a genuine grievance when referee Michael Oliver inexplicably failed to give Spurs' Eric Dier a second yellow card for a crude shirt-pull on Olivier Giroud.

In many respects, this game was about avoiding defeat for Arsenal and they dug deep to stop the rot.

Spurs could have no complaints when they lost at West Ham United on Wednesday. They were beaten by the better side, something that will happen in the fierce competition of the Premier League.

It was a case of not too much harm done with Arsenal and Manchester City also losing - but here they missed a real opportunity.

Spurs had that precious lead with Arsenal on the back foot and reduced to 10 men. All the momentum was with them as White Hart Lane sensed their old rivals were there for the taking.

Instead, with Lloris the culprit and Gunners understudy Ospina superb, they let Arsenal back in.

The chance to go top of the table, even for a few hours, was gone and while they remain three points ahead of their rivals in second place, Spurs will feel they should have extended the advantage.

Timeline
KO

Héctor Bellerín

26'

Francis Coquelin

29'

Aaron Ramsey

39'
HT

Francis Coquelin

55'

Alexis Sánchez

66'

Alexis Sánchez

76'
FT
Location
League Table
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Leicester city
28 16 9 3 51 31 20 57
2
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
28 15 9 4 49 22 27 54
3
Arsenal
28 15 6 7 44 28 16 51
4
Manchester city
27 14 5 8 48 31 17 47
5
Manchester united
28 13 8 7 37 26 11 47
6
West ham united
28 12 10 6 42 31 11 46
7
Stoke city
28 12 6 10 30 33 -3 42
8
Liverpool
27 11 8 8 41 36 5 41
9
Southampton
28 11 7 10 35 28 7 40
10
Chelsea
28 10 9 9 42 38 4 39
11
Everton
27 9 11 7 49 36 13 38
12
Watford
28 10 7 11 29 29 0 37
13
West bromwich albion
28 9 9 10 29 36 -7 36
14
Crystal palace
28 9 6 13 31 37 -6 33
15
Afc bournemouth
28 8 8 12 32 44 -12 32
16
Swansea city
28 7 9 12 27 37 -10 30
17
Sunderland
28 6 6 16 34 53 -19 24
18
Norwich city
28 6 6 16 31 53 -22 24
19
Newcastle united
27 6 6 15 27 50 -23 24
20
Aston villa
28 3 7 18 22 51 -29 16
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Leicester city
29 17 9 3 52 31 21 60
2
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
29 15 10 4 51 24 27 55
3
Arsenal
29 15 7 7 46 30 16 52
4
Manchester city
28 15 5 8 52 31 21 50
5
West ham united
29 13 10 6 45 33 12 49
6
Manchester united
29 13 8 8 37 27 10 47
7
Liverpool
28 12 8 8 43 37 6 44
8
Stoke city
29 12 7 10 31 34 -3 43
9
Southampton
29 11 8 10 36 29 7 41
10
Chelsea
29 10 10 9 43 39 4 40
11
West bromwich albion
29 10 9 10 30 36 -6 39
12
Everton
28 9 11 8 51 39 12 38
13
Watford
29 10 7 12 29 30 -1 37
14
Afc bournemouth
29 9 8 12 35 45 -10 35
15
Crystal palace
29 9 6 14 32 39 -7 33
16
Swansea city
29 8 9 12 28 37 -9 33
17
Sunderland
29 6 7 16 35 54 -19 25
18
Norwich city
29 6 6 17 31 54 -23 24
19
Newcastle united
28 6 6 16 28 53 -25 24
20
Aston villa
29 3 7 19 22 55 -33 16
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