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Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain earns point against Tottenham Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain earns point against Tottenham
(about 1 hour later)
Nacer Chadli could barely contain the delight after his low finish had set up the smash-and-grab raid for Tottenham Hotspur, and he cupped his hand to his ear as he wheeled away in front of the Arsenal supporters. How about that then? What have you got now? Nacer Chadli could barely contain his delight after his low finish had set up the smash-and-grab raid for Tottenham Hotspur, and he cupped his hand to his ear as he wheeled away in front of the Arsenal supporters. How about that then? What have you got now?
Arsenal did have an answer and it came in the form of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s clinically converted equaliser. This was a high-octane occasion in which Arsenal made the bulk of the running and the draw was the least that they deserved. Arsenal did have an answer and it came in the form of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s clinically converted equaliser. The hosts had made the bulk of the attacking running, they had the majority of possession and chances, and it would have been galling for them had they been felled by Chadli’s sucker punch. The draw was the least that they deserved.
But, at full-time, there was the sense of regret for the hosts. Some of their players slumped on to their haunches and it was pretty clear that they were trotting through the chances that they had created and spurned in both halves. Hugo Lloris, the outstanding Tottenham goalkeeper, thwarted them on a number of occasions. There was little relief for Arsenal, though, and plenty of regret. It was noticeable at full-time that a few of their players sank on to their haunches, their glaze fixed upon the turf while the visiting Tottenham fans clapped their , and Arsène Wenger articulated the frustration.
Tottenham’s bubble might have been pricked by Oxlade-Chamberlain, but it was not deflated. This venue has held precious few happy memories for them and this felt like a tonic for the visitors and their manager, Mauricio Pochettino. The Arsenal manager’s tetchy post-match mood was not helped by the muscular injuries that forced off Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey in the first half. The midfielders, Wenger said, would miss the midweek Champions League home tie against Galatasaray and the trip to Chelsea on Sunday, with the fear being that they could prove longer-term casualties. Jack Wilshere also rolled his right ankle and is a fitness doubt.
It is a defining spell for both clubs. Arsenal have Galatasaray and Chelsea coming up; Tottenham have Besiktas and Southampton, high-flying, Champions League-chasing Southampton, a fixture that has added resonance for Pochettino. But that was for later. Nothing mattered apart from this, and it was spiky at the outset, which was no surprise. Wenger’s gripe was with Tottenham for slowing down the game and, to paraphrase him, denying the paying punters a proper spectacle but, more specifically, it was with the referee, Michael Oliver, for his failure to take action against the time-wasting.
The surprises took in Pochettino’s decision to start with Nacer Chadli pressed high up alongside Emmanuel Adebayor, the ex-Arsenal striker, whose every touch, predictably, was jeered. Pochettino has switched to 4-4-2 late in matches, but this was a new approach from the start. “I would like, just once, to see the referee react against that,” Wenger said. “The referee is there to make sure the flow of the game is respected. It’s only a respect of the people who pay money to watch football. Book the goalkeeper straightaway when he walks to the other side to take a goal-kick. The next time, he will take it from where the ball is.”
There was also the selection of Ryan Mason in central midfield for his Premier League debut. Pochettino is a huge fan of the 23-year-old and this was some way to show it. Mason has been held back by injuries but the talent is clearly there. Tottenham had a gameplan, which was to sit deep, stay compact and venture forward on the counter. And they stuck to it. Mauricio Pochettino, who started with Chadli pressed high up alongside Emmanuel Adebayor, made no apologies for the strategy and he praised his players for the hardiness of their mentality. Last season, he pointed out, Tottenham had lost in these sort of games. “It is a good point,” Pochettino said. “We have competed with a big team like Arsenal.”
There was composure from him on the ball, an admirable tidiness about his play. Pochettino had no hesitation in picking him after Mousa Dembélé cried off on Friday with a training-ground ankle turn. Significantly, there was no place for Paulinho in the squad. It was the sort of game, Wenger said, that Arsenal would have won had not they given away a goal. But they did give away a goal. Having started the second half at great pace and with threat in the final third, they were unhinged when they tried to play out from the back.
Arsenal pressed on to the front foot throughout the first half, with Tottenham content to invite them on and attempt to punch on the counter, to harness the threat of the revitalised Erik Lamela. The Argentine missed one easy ball in the first half that would have got his team in on goal, but his deft touch almost teed up Adebayor on 39 minutes. Lamela looked threatening. It all looked a little tight when Per Mertesacker rolled the ball into the substitute, Mathieu Flamini, who was pounced upon by Christian Eriksen and dispossessed. The ball broke to Erik Lamela, he fed Chadli and the Belgian shot low into the far corner. He was booked for his celebration. Nobody in Tottenham colours cared.
It was Arsenal who looked the likelier scorers in the first half and Hugo Lloris was the busier goalkeeper. He made a clutch of saves, some regulation, others more acrobatic. There was the athletic claw to safety following Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s deflected cross, and smart, low stops to deny Jack Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain. This was an away performance built upon solid foundations. The central defenders, Younès Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen, were excellent and behind them, the goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris, was the man of the match. He made a handful of smart saves, with the best being that which repelled Mertesacker’s header in the 58th minute. What makes Lloris so impressive is how he makes the difficult things looks routine.
There was no shortage of commitment and a clutch of fruity tackles that drew yellow cards, the most eye-opening being Wilshere’s lunge at Mason. The players seemed determined to do that derby-day thing and prove to the supporters that they were up for it. Even Lamela conceded free-kicks and was booked for catching Kieran Gibbs. Another positive for Tottenham was the polished performance of Ryan Mason in central midfield. Pochettino had lost Mousa Dembélé to an ankle twist in training on Friday, but he had no hesitation in giving Mason his Premier League debut, despite the scale of the occasion. Apart from one poor cross when well-placed in the first half, the 23-year-old barely put a foot wrong.
Arsène Wenger started Mesut Özil on the left, but soon moved him inside and was forced into other tweaks when Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey went off during the first half with muscular injuries. There was also alarm when Wilshere went down in agony, clutching his troublesome right ankle, after a boot from Danny Rose inside the penalty area. As such, Arsenal felt that they should have had a penalty. It was a predictably spiky occasion, underscored by full-blooded commitment and yellow cards. Arteta and Ramsey felt calf and hamstring muscles twang, but Wilshere was caught by Danny Rose inside the area, before coming down on his ankle in grisly fashion. Wenger said that the incident ought to have led to an Arsenal penalty. Wilshere battled on; he would be withdrawn in the second half.
Tottenham could lament poor final passes in the first half, not only from Lamela but also Mason, after Chadli had released. The visitors’ best opening of the period was created by Étienne Capoue for Chadli, only for the Belgium to fluff his shot. Tottenham invited Arsenal on to them and they looked to counter, particularly through the revitalised Lamela. He missed one simple pass in the first half, which would have got Tottenham in on goal, but his deft touch almost teed up Adebayor on 39 minutes. Chadli also shot weakly following Étienne Capoue’s through-ball.
Arsenal had opened the second half in positive fashion and the substitute Santi Cazorla, Özil and another substitute, Mathieu Flamini, all went close. It felt as though the battle lines for a siege had been drawn. For Tottenham, it felt reassuring to have Lloris as the last line of defence. Lloris clawed Oxlade-Chamberlain’s deflected cross to safety and he saved from Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain, again, in the first half and he kept out Mesut Özil’s shot early in the second period.
The breakthrough had been advertised and yet it came at the other end. Flamini will not enjoy the inquest. After Arsenal attempted to play out from the back and Per Mertesacker had found Flamini, the midfielder was robbed by Christian Eriksen and, when the ball broke to Lamela, his pass put Chadli in on goal. Chadli’s right-footed finish into the far corner was unerring. He was booked for his celebration. Chadli’s goal raised the temperature further and Pochettino felt his temper boil over after a disputed throw-in. He raced over to confront the assistant.
The intensity was further fired. Game on. Back came Arsenal, and Lloris needed to make a marvellous low save to keep out a Mertesacker header. Passions ran wild and Pochettino confronted the assistant after a throw-in decision went against his team. Could Tottenham hold on? Could Tottenham hang on? They could not. Calum Chambers had fizzed narrowly over the crossbar when Lamela miscued a clearance and the substitute Santi Cazorla shot through a crowded area. Danny Welbeck swung and missed in front of goal, but Oxlade-Chamberlain did not.
They could not. Arsenal continued to play their football, despite the mounting frenzy around them and the equaliser was merited.
Even so, it took a Tottenham error to spark the move. Moments earlier, Calum Chambers had fizzed narrowly over the crossbar, but when Lamela miscued a clearance to the substitute Alexis Sánchez, Arsenal scented blood. Cazorla shot through the crowd and after Danny Welbeck’s swing-and-miss, Oxlade-Chamberlain clubbed high into the net.