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TOTTENHAM v ARSENAL RECAP: Ten-man Gunners fight back to hold Spurs

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Arsenal forced a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in a dramatic North London derby on Saturday.

The Gunners opened the scoring after withstanding a barrage of first-half chances from Spurs before being reduced to ten men when midfielder Francis Coquelin was sent off for a second bookable offence 10 minutes into the second half.

The opening goal came through Aaron Ramsey who produced a clever back-heeled flick to help Hector Bellerin's low cross on it's way to beat a disparaging Hugo Lloris.

Coquelin's red card came on 55 minutes and the personnel advantage motivated Tottenham to go after the jugular in the form of a 60th-minute equaliser from Toby Alderweireld who fired home from close range.

Two minutes later and Spurs striker Harry Kane turned the game on it's head with a sublime curing effort from a tight angle outside the area on the left which flew beyond David Ospina and nestled itself in the far right corner.

Just as it appeared as though Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs were set to dump Arsene Wenger's Gunners out of the title race, Alexis Sanchez raced onto a neat pass from Bellerin and fired past Lloris on 76 minutes to give the visitors a share of the spoils.

The result has second-placed Tottenham sitting five points behind league leaders Leicester City while Arsenal are eight in arrears of the Foxes in third.


MATCH OVERVIEW

Tottenham Hotspur: 2 (Toby Alderweireld 60', Harry Kane 62')
Arsenal: 2 (Aaron Ramsey 39', Alexis Sanchez 76', red card: Francis Coquelin 55')
White Hart Lane, London - 35, 762


TALKING POINTS

- Should Spurs have won this match? Have they cost themselves a real shot at the title by falling behind Leicester?

- Is this the kind of hard-working result that could spark Arsenal to go on a title-chasing run? Or are they now to far behind?



WHAT'S NEXT?

Arsenal meet Hull City in the FA Cup fifth round replay on Tuesday which could see them into the quarter-final which will take place against Watford on Sunday.

Spurs are up against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League Round of 16 first leg on Thursday before taking on bottom-placed Aston Villa in the league on the weekend. 



TWITTER INSIGHT



QUOTES CORNER

Tottenham boss Pochettino on failing to make the most of a 2-1 lead:

"It was a missed opportunity. At 11 against 11 I think we deserved more and were unlucky in the way we conceded the goal.

"The way we turned it in two minutes, then you feel a little bit disappointed, frustrated, because at 11 against 10 when you turn the result you need to keep that.

"But we are still improving and we need to move forward."


Arsenal's Wenger on his side's fighting performance:

"I feel we have shown our attitude, our character. I'm happy and proud of our performance.

"We refused to lose the game. We have big regrets because I couldn't see at 11 against 11 how we could drop points today.

"We made a big mistake at 1-0 but even after the shock at 2-1 we didn't lose the game and we looked dangerous going forward."




STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta

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Andrew Slevison
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