It was a brilliant rollercoaster ride of entertainment and drama.
Tottenham blew a two-goal lead, Arsenal could have snatched victory and it ended in frustration after a pulsating, thrilling and high octane North London derby.
Arsenal were as good second half as they were bad in the first 45 minutes while Tottenham ripped Unai Emery’s men to shreds before the break only to be left clinging on at the end.
It seems churlish to focus on the weaknesses as much as the strengths and yet, ultimately, it is the reason why both teams will fall short in the battle for major trophies this season. They will both be great entertainers but fall just short of being winners.
Tottenham were supposed to be the team making up ground on Manchester City and Liverpool but it is hard to believe that Mauricio Pochettino truly believes his squad has been strengthened enough to bridge the gap.
Arsenal’s forward line is now frightening with Nicolas Pepe giving them a new dimension behind Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but the familiar defensive problems have only been made worse by David Luiz.
Gunners keeper Bernd Leno presented the opening goal to Christian Eriksen on a plate and then a crazy challenge by Granit Xhaka conceded an idiotic penalty and you will never achieve anything with such a habit of making basic errors.
But Lacazette gave Arsenal hope before half time and then Matteo Guendouzi led the second half fightback with an incredible display of energy and desire to edge out a few contenders from both sides to be man of the match.
There was a memorable clip on social media which did the rounds after Arsenal beat Spurs last season with Guendouzi leaning out of a car window, whipping up the fans waiting outside the Emirates to celebrate.
This time, Guendouzi did it on the pitch as he geed up his team mates, tore into tackles, covered every blade of grass and then supplied the brilliant through ball to set up Aubameyang for his 71st minute equaliser.
It set up a grandstand finish and yet neither side could finish the job - probably because they were feeling as exhausted as the rest of us and we were just watching.
It is still hard to work out who are kings of North London from such a topsy turvy game especially when Heung-Min Son’s pace and movement was far too much for Arsenal in the first half.
Harry Kane won a flick on, Son left Luiz chasing shadows and then Leno spilled Erik Lamela’s shot straight at the feet of Eriksen who had a simple tap-in after just ten minutes. Leno sort of redeemed himself with good saves from Son and Eriksen but the damage was done.
Tottenham made it two after 40 minutes when Kane took his record to 10 goals in 12 North London derbies when he smashed home a penalty. Xhaka was supposed to show maturity after being given the armband but there was little evidence after his reckless foul on Son.
It looked all over and yet it was Lacazette - whose work rate and effort was brilliant - who gave Arsenal hope in first half injury time with a sensational finish to finally beat Spurs’ terrific keeper Hugo Lloris.
Arsenal came out re-energised after half time. Guendouzi was denied by Lloris, substitute Dani Ceballos gave Arsenal a new dimension and Kane hit the post as the game refused to show any signs of let up.
Finally, Arsenal got their reward for the second half fightback when Guendouzi flighted a lovely through ball over the Spurs defence, Aubameyang raced through and fired past Lloris.
The stadium boiled over in excitement. Arsenal defender Sokratis had an effort ruled out by VAR for offside while Kane was perhaps lucky not to be booked when he seemed to dive looking for a penalty.
In the end, a draw was probably the right outcome but perhaps only serves to highlight that these two will be scrapping for top four rather than loftier heights.
