Taking my seat at the Emirates, the atmosphere was building, but i couldn't help but think it was less tense than previous north-London derbies. Maybe this was because of Tottenham's perilous position at the foot of the table or because of the late kick-off. The fans obviously didn't know what was coming. What followed was arguably the most entertaining game between the two sides since the 5-4 game this time four years ago.
The Arsenal players looked a bit nervy at the start and Spurs capitalised on it when in the 13th minute ex-gooner, David Bentley, was allowed oceans of space in midfield and after one touch to flick the ball into the air, he unleashed a dipping 40-yard shot. It came down with snow on and we all thought it would be an easy catch for Almunia but he seemed stranded, and all the memories of Nayim came into my head as the net bulged, one-nil to Tottenham.
After the stunned silence the crowd rallied their troops and finally Arsenal were starting to play their usual high-tempo game, with Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie causing problems for the away defence.
In 37th minute it was 1-1, Robin Van Perise floated in a pinpoint ball from a corner and Mikael Silvetre beat Heurelho Gomes and Jermaine Jenas to the ball to head into the far corner. Cue pandemonium at the Emirates, it ended 1-1 at half-time.
The whistle blew for the second half and within a minute Arsenal had gained the lead. As the fans slowly filtered in from their half time libations, Van Persie again put in another precise ball from a free-kick and William Gallas stole in between defenders to nod down and past Gomes' desperately flailing hand. Suddenly all the late-comers rushed in cursing the fact they missed the goal. They didn't have to wait too long for another though.
In the 64th minute Samir Nasri was put through on goal and he tried to emulate Carlos Vela's chip against Sheffield United, he chipped Gomes but it wasn't going to reach and Emmanuel Adebayor and Alan Hutton rushed in to follow up, Adebayor got the crucial touch to make it 3-1. The home fans could now breathe easily, or so they thought.
Within 4 minutes Darren Bent who had sneaked on as a replacement for the ineffective Roman Pavlyuchenko capitalised as Almunia spilled a long shot from Tom Huddlestone, and tapped into the net. 3-2
Within a minute though Arsenal had regained their two-goal advantage, Adebayor picked up a loose ball and threaded a pass across the box to the unmarked Van Persie, who dispatched a thumping shot past Gomes, surely that was the game tied up.
Arsenal continued to play their attacking game and Tottenham looked demoralised, Van Persie missed a gilt-edged opportunity as he followed in on a cross from Nasri. Eboue, Diaby and Song were sent on to replace Walcott, Van Persie and Nasri respectively to tighten things up. The opposite happened, Arsenal seemes to lose all shape to their team and with the threat of Walcott gone they started to play a bit but surely it was too little too late for Spurs.
With half of the away support gone, Gael Clichy made an uncharacteristic mistake in the 89th minute, when he dallied too long on the ball and Jenas nipped in and ran about 15 yards without being closed down, he then unleashed an unstoppable shot from just outside the area which flew past Almunia. We were entering stoppage time and all Arsenal needed to do was to keep the ball as they usually do so well.
Whether it was inexperience or nerves, the Arsenal players wanted to keep on going forward. When Luca Modric picked up a ball outside the area there was no-one there to close him down and the Gunners fans looked on in stunned silence as he hit the post, Almunia was on the floor and Aaron Lennon, a substitute could hardly believe his luck, as he could tap in for a very unexpected equaliser.
The remaining Spurs fans went wild and Harry Redknapp and his coaching staff couldn't hide their excitement. They had stolen the most unlikely of points, Arsenal deserved more for their play but if they continue to play with complacency and arrogance they will continue to be beaten by and draw with clubs they really ought to beat.
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