Tottenham vs Arsenal match report: Alexis Sanchez scores vital equaliser for 10-man Gunners

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Arsenal 2

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Fiction is fast becoming a redundant art form in this, the season to end all seasons. No screenplay could capture the intensity of the drama and the compelling nature of the characters at White Hart Lane yesterday. No one has a clue about how this movie will end.

Arsenal were cast as feckless aristocrats, too posh to push and too talented to truly care. Tottenham were assigned the role of ambitious upstarts, unwilling to occupy their assigned space below stairs. So much for stereotypes and convenient assumptions.

Arsène Wenger exhaled deeply as he walked towards the sanctuary of the tunnel at the final whistle. He knew the calibre of the bullet he had dodged as his side, down to ten men for the last 35 minutes, came from behind to earn a breathless draw. It would have blown his legacy apart.

Arsenal took the lead through Aaron Ramsey, conceded two goals in as many minutes when they were readjusting to the folly of Francis Coquelin’s second yellow card, yet had the intestinal fortitude to prevent Spurs going top of the Premier League.

They did so despite the most stunning of sub plots, a goal of rare quality from Harry Kane which evoked the pre-match video montage which spoke of “seconds that last forever”. The striker’s star billing was shared by David Ospina, Petr Cech’s unheralded deputy, who made no fewer than nine significant saves.

“Personally, I have never questioned the character of this team” said Wenger, who confirmed he had warned Coquelin at half-time about the potentially calamitous consequences of further rashness. “We have shown great spirit. We refused to lose the game.”

These matches have no need for no man’s land. Neutrality is a meaningless nuance, and when there is a chance for a generational shift in momentum, no prisoners are taken. The atmosphere was sulphurous, seething, and beyond the imagination of those agitating for a soulless Super League .

This was not merely red against Lilywhite, Woolwich against Tottenham, the cult of Wenger against the bristling impertinence of Pochettino. It had the broadest possible significance, as it featured perceived complacency against urgency, arrogance against ambition.

Spurs’ economic disadvantage against their neighbours is one thing. Competitive inferiority is entirely another. The noise signalled hope and, crucially confidence. It also revealed one of football’s most grossly undervalued assets, continuity, from the boardroom to the pitch and terraces.

Despite deeply ingrained fatalism, Spurs fans have bought into the club’s long term strategy, emotionally and completely. Mauricio Pochettino has moulded a callow, urgent and intelligent group of players, with genuine depth, and still made £6million profit.

“We played with maturity and character” he insisted, without wasting the opportunity to remind us the Premier League’s youngest squad deserve their status as valid title contenders. “ Today was our 41st official game of the season. That’s unbelievable, crazy.”

Spurs were initially sharper, more urgent, and found their mood best expressed by Moussa Dembélé, who put his finger to his lips to quieten Alexis Sanchez’s complaints at a typically tribal tackle close to the touchline, in front of Pochettino.

They would have taken the lead in the 26th minute but for a wonderfully athletic save by Ospina from Eric Lamela, who fashioned a close range effort from Kyle Walker’s fierce cross-shot. Three bookings in rapid succession, the last of which punished Coquelin’s blatant handball, reflected the passions of the afternoon.

Arsenal edged ahead six minutes from the interval when the slightest deflection from Eric Dier, who was seeking to press the ball, allowed Danny Welbeck behind Walker on the left. His square pass found Hector Bellerin, whose drive across the box was flicked in with wonderful delicacy and dexterity by Aaron Ramsey.

That goal was a shock to the system, since Spurs were out of sight on style points, if not on the electronic scoreboard. They had hunted the ball effectively, rotated it intelligently, and used it eagerly.

Their chance came nine minutes into the second half, when Coquelin went to ground early and scythed down Kane. He understood the magnitude of the error, accepted his fate, and was left to contemplate his guilt.

Ospina almost immediately saved left handed from Kane at the far post. Technology decreed the whole of the ball was not over the line, but the instinctive anxiety on the faces of the defenders revealed the magnitude of the reprieve.

It didn’t last long. Toby Alderweireld, in space at the far post, showed admirable composure when Lamela’s effort was deflected into his path. He hit the ball low on the half-volley with his left foot to equalise.

Enter Kane, with a goal to match the dramatic impact of Paul Gascoigne’s 30-yard free kick against Arsenal in the 1991 FA Cup semi final. Dele Alli hustled Per Mertesacker, backheeling the ball to the England striker, who advanced before bending it, from an improbable angle, into the far corner of the net.

The narrative seemed established, yet, as so often this season, there was one final twist. Bellerin’s sublime angled pass found Sanchez 15 minutes from time, and his shot went in, off the right hand of Hugo Lloris, for his first Premier League goal since 17 October.

Football, bloody hell, as a certain Scotsman once said. Not a new line, perhaps, but none could be more appropriate.

Tottenham: (4-2-3-1) Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Rose (Davies, 78); Dier, Dembélé (Son, 82); Lamela (Mason, 67), Alli, Eriksen, Kane.

Arsenal: (4-2-3-1) Ospina; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Gibbs; Elneny (Giroud, 75), Coquelin; Sanchez, Özil (Campbell, 89), Ramsey; Welbeck (Flamini, 84)

Referee: Michael Oliver

Man of the match: Kane (Tottenham)

Match rating: 8/10