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Football London
Football London
Sport
Robert Warlow

Gary Lineker gives verdict on Granit Xhaka, Harry Kane and an action-packed north London derby

It was an action-packed north London derby as Arsenal fought back from two goals down to claim a point against Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium.

Goals from Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane had put Spurs 2-0 up at the home of their north London rivals, after defensive errors from the Gunners.

But Alexandre Lacazette halved the deficit shortly before the break at the Emirates Stadium, giving Arsenal hope of staging a comeback.

And the Gunners levelled the score in the second half, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netting the equaliser for Arsenal with a deft touch past Hugo Lloris.

Arsenal thought they had won the game when Sokratis put the ball in the net soon after, but the goal was ruled out, with the linesman's flag going up for an offside.

There were plenty of talking points in the game though, with the game littered with errors from both sides, and several players coming in for criticism from pundits and fans alike.

One of those was Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka, who conceded the penalty for Spurs to make it 2-0, with Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Graeme Souness both heavily critical of the Swiss international.

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Match of the Day host Gary Lineker was also critical of the 26-year-old midfielder for his challenge on Heung-min Son, although he was full of praise for Spurs striker Harry Kane, who equalled the record for the number of goals in north London derbies with his penalty.

Lineker was also full of praise for Aubameyang after his goal in the second half, with the former England striker saying: "That's how you score goals. Gamble on where the ball will go and attack that space, rather than wait to see where the ball will go.

"Most of the time it won't go where you run to, but when it does...it's a tap-in. Aubameyang does it beautifully."

But Lineker summed up how many people watching the game would have felt as he delivered his verdict on the north London derby as a whole.

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