Tottenham Hotspur came from behind twice to hold Arsenal to a pulsating 2-2 Premier League North London derby draw at the Emirates Stadium.
A Cristian Romero own goal propelled Arsenal into a deserved lead before Son Heung-min’s leveller, and the Spurs captain came up trumps for his side again less than two minutes after a Bukayo Saka penalty had restored the Gunners’ lead, seeing both sides prolong their unbeaten starts to the season.
With Leandro Trossard missing due to a muscular problem, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus both started in the final third for the Gunners, while Brennan Johnson was thrust into the limelight for his full Tottenham debut on hostile territory.
Postecoglou’s men had the ball in the back of the net with just three minutes gone, but Son was several yards offside when tapping home from Yves Bissouma’s wayward strike following a corner.
As the Lilywhites coach promised, Spurs were sticking to their principles, but the Gunners soon began to turn the screw, and Tottenham were indebted to two crucial saves by Guglielmo Vicario within a couple of minutes.
The Italian shot-stopper firstly produced a fine fingertip stop to deflect Jesus’s back-post effort away in the 14th minute, before Destiny Udogie’s sloppy pass sent Nketiah through, but Vicario kept the Englishman out at his near post.
Tottenham showed a few flickers of life in the final third, but their resistance was broken in the 26th minute following a quick break from the hosts, which saw Saka cut inside and try to bend a curling effort into the far corner.
Vicario would seemingly have it covered, but Cristian Romero stuck out a leg to try to block Saka’s effort and only succeeded in deflecting the ball into his own net with Vicario diving the other way.
The fired-up Gunners should have increased their lead with 32 minutes gone, as Jesus robbed a daydreaming James Maddison of the ball inside the Spurs box, but the Brazilian went for power and blazed his strike over the bar from a brilliant position.
It took Spurs 38 minutes to create a chance of any real note, and it took a marvellous save from David Raya to deny Johnson his first goal, as Son cut back for the Welshman inside the box, but Raya raced across his line and clawed the ball away from danger.
However, there was nothing that the Brentford loanee could do four minutes later, as Maddison burst clear of Saka on the byline and sent in a low ball for Son, who directed a delicate side-footed strike through a sea of Arsenal shirts and into the far corner.
Injuries to Declan Rice and Fabio Vieira was not on Mikel Arteta’s agenda either, as the Gunners boss brought on Kai Havertz and Jorginho for the second half, where the hosts restored their lead in contentious circumstances.
From an inswinging corner, the ball fell to Ben White on the edge of the six-yard box, and the defender’s shot on the turn was stopped on its way by the hand of Romero, seeing Rob Jones point to the spot after a review.
Saka stepped up and calmly stroked the ball down the middle, but Arsenal’s elation turned to despair just two minutes later, as Jorginho was caught in possession by Maddison, who charged forward and slipped in Son to repeat their first-half combination.
The rollercoaster of emotions continued for Spurs, who then lost Johnson to injury just after the hour mark, while Maddison stayed down after a worrying knee jolt 10 minutes later, but the playmaker avoided a serious issue and came back on after receiving treatment.
Maddison was eventually taken off, but the Lilywhites continued to push for a winner without success, before Arsenal ramped up the pressure heading into 10 additional minutes at the Emirates – the second of which saw Vicario produce a full-stretch save to divert Saka’s low strike behind.
Pass after pass produced no end product for an Arsenal side who ran out of ideas towards the end, leaving the Gunners fifth in the table on 14 points, while Tottenham drop to fourth owing to Liverpool’s win over West Ham United.
Arsenal now turn their attention to Wednesday’s EFL Cup third-round tie with Brentford, while Spurs face another daunting test at home to Liverpool in six days’ time.
