Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Spurs: 5 things we learned – Mustafi madness

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 02: Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammates after saving a penalty whilst Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal looks dejected during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal FC at Wembley Stadium on March 02, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 02: Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammates after saving a penalty whilst Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal looks dejected during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal FC at Wembley Stadium on March 02, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 02: Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammates after saving a penalty whilst Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal looks dejected during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal FC at Wembley Stadium on March 02, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 02: Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammates after saving a penalty whilst Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal looks dejected during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal FC at Wembley Stadium on March 02, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /

In a rather dramatic fashion, Arsenal drew 1-1 to Spurs in the third North London Derby of the season at Saturday lunchtime. Here are five things we learned.

Arsenal fell to a painful 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in the third North London Derby of the season. Aaron Ramsey handed the Gunners a half-time lead with a lovely, calm finished after being slipped through by Alexandre Lacazette, but then a tale of two penalties turned the game on its head. Harry Kane slotted his away, although he was offside in the build-up to the foul, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s tame effort was cleared by a combination of Hugo Lloris and Jan Vertonghen.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — BATE Borisov and Mesut Ozil fanboys

Here are five things we learned from the 1-1 draw.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 02: Unai Emery, Manager of Arsenal celebrates after Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal scores his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal FC at Wembley Stadium on March 02, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 02: Unai Emery, Manager of Arsenal celebrates after Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal scores his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal FC at Wembley Stadium on March 02, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /

5. A good result

I will touch on the disappointment of chucking away the victory in the closing stages later in this piece. And the impassioned response to this draw would be a furious one. But if you can step back and take a more objective viewpoint, this was a good result for Arsenal and it vindicated the work that Unai Emery has put in.

Before the match, if you have offered Arsenal fans a draw, I am sure that most would have been quite happy. Spurs may have lost their previous two matches and were facing some questions and key injuries, but they are still the better team and were favoured to win the match, especially at home.

And Emery set his side up to be workmanlike, industrious, disciplined, and difficult to beat. While his team were dangerous on the counter-attack, their primary focus was to prevent Spurs from creating chances at the other end. And they did precisely that. Yes, the ending was frustrating, but this was a good result.