3 positives & negatives from frustrating North London derby

Arsenal and Tottenham played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Emirates, despite the Gunners twice taking the lead during the game. 

Bukayo Saka fired the hosts ahead in fortunate fashion after the 22-year-old saw his strike deflect in via an outstretched Cristian Romero leg.

However, Son Heung-min then levelled for Spurs just before half-time, only for Saka to fire home from the spot after Romero was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box. But, just 23 seconds after the restart, while many Arsenal fans were likely still celebrating Saka’s goal, an error from Jorginho allowed James Maddison to slide Son through on goal for his brace.

Here are three positives and negatives from the match…

3 positives and negatives from frustrating North London derby

Positive #1: Bukayo Saka steps up… again

It was by no means one of Saka’s best displays this season, let alone his entire Arsenal career, but, it was once again the 22-year-old who stepped up when it mattered most. After all, it was his shot that resulted in Romero’s own goal, and he also showed a strong mentality to tuck away his penalty in the second half.

He now has five Premier League goal contributions to his name this season, and while being some distance from his best in this match, Saka still looked our most dangerous player in attack and always appeared the most likely to make something happen in the final third.

Negative #1: David Raya’s distribution

In my opinion, David Raya’s performance in this match was okay – not incredible but certainly not terrible, although I do think he could have dealt with the cross before Spurs’ first-half equaliser better.

However, my real issue with his display was his distribution, which again while not terrible, certainly was frustrating at times. One of the main reasons many believe Raya has been selected ahead of Aaron Ramsdale in recent weeks is his superior calmness on the ball when pressed, but that was not necessarily on display against Tottenham.

As per Sofascore, during the 90 minutes, the Spaniard recorded a pass completion rate of just 69%, and played a total of 16 long balls, with only seven finding their target. Overall, it was not the type of on-the-ball performance that Raya has become renowned for.