Derby draw for Gunners

In some ways it feels like a satisfactory point but in another the 1-1 draw with North London rivals Tottenham was also very frustrating.

If we had won the game we would have gone top, albeit temporarily after Liverpool's 6-1 thrashing of Watford, so it feels like a missed opportunity to have stamped our authority in the title race. We need to take better advantage of chances like this as the performance should have been better and I was disappointed we didn't get all three points.

However, the tense derby clashes with Tottenham are usually difficult and nobody has beaten them in the league yet this season, so a draw also isn't too bad a result. We should have done better, but if someone had said to me before the game that we would get a draw I would probably have reluctantly taken a point. The main positives for me from the game were the performances of our full-backs, with Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin both putting in decent displays. We just weren't ruthless enough in attack and we need to improve this.

Arsenal nearly fell behind when Harry Kane's header bounced just wide, but the hosts started to test the Tottenham goal more as the half wore on. Mesut Ozil shot wide and Alex Iwobi's shot was comfortably saved by Hugo Lloris.

There was very nearly a derby classic goal from Theo Walcott but his thunderous strike hit the woodwork before Ozil blazed the rebound over. But the Gunners did finally break the deadlock three minutes before half-time as Kevin Wimmer headed into his own net from Ozil's free-kick.

The goal was controversial with some believing it should have been disallowed for offside but, by the letter of the law, the goal appeared to be correctly awarded, although admittedly the new changes to the rules regarding offside this season leave too much of a grey area. Even the pundits were getting confused as former referee Howard Webb explained why referee Mark Clattenburg had been correct in awarding the goal. Whether or not some fans thought it was a bit iffy, it was a fair goal by the letter of the law and that's what matters.

I thought the goal would see us kick on more in the second half, but instead we conceded an equaliser within six minutes of the restart. Mousa Dembele ran into the box before being fouled by Laurent Koscielny. There was contact and it was a correctly awarded penalty, but it was also soft. Kane made no mistake, sending Petr Cech the wrong way as he fired his penalty into the centre of the goal.

It nearly got worse for Arsenal, but Cech reacted well to keep out Christian Eriksen's shot.

Arsenal really should have scored when Iwobi sent in a great cross, but Granit Xhaka didn't manage to get his head to the ball. Although Arsenal didn't test Lloris nearly as much as they would have liked, the Spurs' goalkeeper did have to produce a decent save to keep out Ozil before later keeping out substitute Olivier Giroud's header.

Tottenham also had chances to win it with Eriksen's free-kick hitting a post, but in the end the spoils were shared at the Emirates and it was probably a fair result.

OPPOSITION VIEW
Spurs fan Adrian Drakes was satisfied by the result during what he feels has been a difficult time for his side.

"I think we're both happy with a draw in the end and I'm happy with an away derby point," said Drakes. "The Arsenal goal was iffy, but I am more than happy their defender lost his mind and gifted us a penalty to level it.

"There were so many chances for both sides so I am surprised it wasn't a higher scoring game, far from boring though.

"I'm happy with an away point at their place especially given the players we're missing and the bad run we're going through

"We have lots of problems, no open play goals in six games now I think and lots of key injuries (main central defender, now Walker, Dele, Lamela and Kane still not match fit), no suitable back-ups in the squad and huge games coming up - West Ham, Chelsea and a must win away Monaco game.

"That's why even though we could have won on a different day I'm very happy with the draw. I expected the worst given what we are going through, away at their place and their current form.

"I am glad of the international break for sure, physios need to work overtime!"

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Of course my fellow Arsenal fans and I would have preferred a victory and we really need to be winning these kinds of games if we are to have a chance of winning the league. A point isn't all that bad though, but it does mean that it is even more imperative that we beat Manchester United at Old Trafford in our next game. We certainly can't be dropping too many more points.

I'd almost rather it wasn't the international break coming up as I want us to be back in action as soon as possible and not just because I'll miss the Premier League, but so that we could bounce back to winning ways quicker.

We will need to up the performance level for sure if we are to win that one, so let's hope our players come back from the international break raring to go!

COME ON YOU GUNNERS