Emery ‘proud’ of Gunners’ stunning turnaround
Unai Emery saluted Arsenal’s fighting spirit after they hit back from two goals down to salvage a pulsating 2-2 draw against Tottenham in Sunday’s north London derby.
Spurs preyed on the Gunners’ vacant midfield early on as Christian Eriksen tapped home at the end of a flowing counter-attack before Harry Kane’s penalty doubled the Champions League finalists’ lead.
Arsenal were always a threat going forward and, after Alexandre Lacazette reduced arrears in first-half stoppage time, were well worthy of a point after the break. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got the equaliser 19 minutes from time and Arsenal had the ball in the net again through Sokratis Papastathopoulos, only to see celebrations cut short by the offside flag.
However, it was Spurs who passed up a host of promising positions to snatch the winner in stoppage time with Kane seeing appeals for another penalty waived away when he fell under pressure from Sokratis.
“The defender made a tired tackle. On halfway I think I’d get that foul,” added Kane. “The ref probably thinks I’m looking for it. It is 50-50, I could get it in some games.”
“When you go 2-0 up you expect to win whoever you are playing. The goal before half-time changed the momentum,” said Kane.
“If a few final balls would have been better, we would have created more. It is a shame we couldn’t kill it off. But it is the Premier League and if you don’t kill teams off they come back at you.”
Arsenal head into the international break in fifth place, with just one defeat from their first four matches. Tottenham are two points behind their rivals and have won only once in their opening four fixtures.
“I’m pretty proud of our work. We played with our heart, sometimes more than our head. We need the balance,” Emery said. “We need to be clearer in our mind. We made some mistakes in the first half. The fans pushed us and helped us. The first goal for us was the key. We deserved to win over the 90 minutes. The match was amazing for everyone watching.”
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has been frustrated by the decision to allow European clubs to buy players after the Premier League transfer deadline. His Denmark playmaker Eriksen has been keen to leave, creating an unsettling effect. But with the European deadline looming on Monday, Pochettino hopes Tottenham will be more unified once Eriksen’s future is settled.
“In the first half it was a great 45 minutes and I was a little bit ashamed to concede before half-time,” Pochettino said. “We have massive quality and from tomorrow we will all be on the same page. With Christian Eriksen we have to wait but it shows it was the right decision to play him.
“He showed a great performance and helped the team to get a point here. I am optimistic and happy to work with the squad and try to fight for big things for the club. It is about drawing a strong line for the future. It’s important to move on and learn from the past.”
RICHARLISON FIRES EVERTON
Richarlison bagged a brace as Everton earned a dramatic 3-2 win over Wolves on Sunday.
The Brazil forward scored the winner with 10 minutes left to hand the Toffees their second win of the season. Summer signing Alex Iwobi scored the other goal, netting for the second successive game. Romain Saiss and Raul Jimenez had twice drawn the visitors level.
Comments