Son Heung-min’s brace earned Tottenham a share of the derby spoils after an entertaining 2-2 draw at Arsenal.
The result maintained both north London clubs’ unbeaten starts to the Premier League campaign, but Mikel Arteta’s men would have been disappointed after they twice took the lead.
A Cristian Romero own-goal broke the deadlock at the Emirates and while Son levelled for Spurs before half-time, Arsenal went back in front when Bukayo Saka rolled home a penalty in the 54th-minute following Romero’s handball.
Tottenham’s momentum under new head coach Ange Postecoglou would not be checked, though, with Son hitting another equaliser 108 seconds later and it finished all square.
Unbeaten starts for both teams had ramped up the excitement for this derby and Arteta again kept faith with David Raya in goal over Aaron Ramsdale, while Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah started together in attack.
Postecoglou handed a full debut to Brennan Johnson, who was immediately thrust into the action at a raucous Emirates when his right-footed effort was deflected over by Ben White.
From the resulting corner Son had the ball in the net from Yves Bissouma’s wayward effort, but he was correctly adjudged to be offside.
Spurs enjoyed the lion’s share of possession early on, but it was Arsenal who created the first clear-cut chance when Saka picked out Jesus at the back post and his half-volley was excellently tipped wide by Guglielmo Vicario.
Vicario saved well again soon after when Destiny Udogie’s loose pass allowed Nketiah to get into the area.
It perfectly encapsulated a difficult start for Udogie, who had struggled against Saka and been booked after 15 minutes.
Saka’s influence continued to grow and the Gunners’ academy graduate helped break the deadlock.
Martin Odegaard passed out wide to Saka, who was given too much space to cut inside and his curled effort was deflected beyond Vicario by Spurs’ vice-captain Romero in the 26th minute.
It went down as an own-goal but was made by Saka and yet Arsenal should have doubled their advantage six minutes later.
Vicario passed into Maddison and he was tackled by Jesus inside the area, but the Arsenal forward blazed over from 14 yards.
An end-to-end feel to the derby took over with Raya producing a terrific save to deny Johnson from Pedro Porro’s cross, which earned applause from team-mate Ramsdale on the substitutes’ bench.
Raya was not so composed when he tipped away a cross heading behind for a goal-kick and had to save from Johnson again.
While the hosts survived that initial 42nd-minute attack, Tottenham kept the ball alive and levelled when Maddison spun away from Saka and picked out Son, who side-footed home via a post before shushing the Arsenal fans.
Arteta made a double change at half-time with Declan Rice and Fabio Vieira replaced by Jorginho and Kai Havertz and the third goal of an enthralling clash came in the 54th minute.
Romero was again at the heart of the action after he blocked White’s shot with his hand.
VAR told referee Robert Jones to review the incident on the pitchside monitor and despite Romero’s close proximity to the shot, he was adjudged to have deliberately handled and Saka tucked away the spot-kick to make it 2-1.
The Arsenal celebrations were cut short when Tottenham quickly equalised.
Maddison was able to win back possession from Jorginho and played in Son, who rolled past Raya to score his 150th goal for Spurs.
A lull to the frantic nature of the derby came after Son’s second leveller, with cautions more frequent than chances and a raft of substitutions made.
Arsenal duo Reiss Nelson and Havertz failed to make the most of openings before Saka forced Vicario into a low save in the first minute of 10 added on.
There was still time for a Richarlison chance, but Jorginho deflected his effort wide and the game finished level.
'It's a shame' - Alonso confirms Leverkusen's Boniface out with thigh injury
Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso confirmed that Victor Boniface will be sidelined for some time after picking up a thigh injury on international duty with Nigeria.
Boniface, who has scored eight goals in 15 appearances in all competitions this season, was replaced late on in the Super Eagles' 2-1 defeat to Rwanda on Monday.
It is another blow for Leverkusen, who have managed 17 points from 10 games so far this season, the worst start to a league campaign in 12 years by a defending champion.
Only Omar Marmoush and Harry Kane (both 11) have scored more goals in the league than Boniface this term (six).
Alonso revealed that the 23-year-old will miss Saturday's Bundesliga encounter against Heidenheim and their Champions League tie against RB Salzburg next week.
"We will have to see how long he will be out. It is a shame," Alonso told a press conference.
"He has a thigh injury. For tomorrow, for Salzburg and maybe a bit longer. We will have to wait and see.
"It is too early to say but we hope he can still play this year. We have to see with the recovery and improvement but it is not a matter of six or eight weeks."
Leverkusen have dropped points in six Bundesliga games already this season (D5, L1), as often as they did during the entirety of their 2023-24 title-winning campaign (D6).
They come into this weekend's fixture against Heidenheim on a three-game winless run in the Bundesliga (D3), the first time they have gone this long without a victory since between April and May 2023 (five games).
Leverkusen sit fourth in the Bundesliga, already nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich as the busy festive schedule kickstarts on Saturday.
Alonso's side have eight games in just under a month, including a DFB-Pokal round of 16 clash with Bayern at the start of December.
"Eight games in four weeks. It is nothing new for us," Alonso said. "An intense phase is coming up for us and it starts tomorrow.
"We have clear goals for the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the German Cup."
Object thrown at City striker 'Bunny' Shaw in Champions League win over Hammarby sparks UEFA investigation
UEFA has opened an investigation after Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw was hit by an object during their Women’s Champions League win against Swedish side Hammarby on Thursday.
The towering Jamaican striker scored both goals in City’s 2-1 win at the Stockholm Arena to see her side through to the quarterfinal stage.
Her animated celebration in front of the home fans after her first goal saw the 27-year-old being booked, with replays also showing an object seemingly thrown her way from the stands.
“Proceedings have been opened against Hammarby IF for throwing of objects (Article 16(2)(b) of the Disciplinary Regulations),” UEFA said in a statement.
“Manchester City player Khadija Shaw received a yellow card following her goal presentation for unsporting conduct,” the statement added.
Following the game, City captain Alex Greenwood chided match broadcaster DAZN for failing to mention the incident in a social media post.
The post on X, external said Shaw “antagonised” the home fans and received “stick” from them.
Greenwood replied, "Correction. Travel to Stockholm, score a big goal. Celebrates her goal. Gets objects thrown at her.”
Girona handed huge injury boosts ahead of Espanyol clash
Michel says Girona are in better physical shape ahead of their home clash against Espanyol after being handed numerous injury boosts.
Last season's surprise package, Girona, have had a mixed start to the campaign and sit 10th in the table but registered back-to-back league wins before the international break.
They have struggled with injuries to key players this season, but Viktor Tsygankov, Jhon Solis, Arnaut Danjuma, Yaser Asprilla, Ladislav Krejci, Ivan Martin, and Alejandro Frances are all available for the game.
Michel hopes that having a wider group of players available will help them to extend their winning run.
"We are better physically. Only Yangel Herrera, [Gabriel] Misehouy, Portu and Abel Ruiz are out, and the rest are in the squad" Michel told reporters.
"Each case will be different in terms of giving us minutes, but they are ready to help us.
"Now we have replacements in each position, and it gives me peace of mind. We need everyone ready and in the next two to three weeks, we will be ready to play at 100%."
Michel said Herrera, who has scored twice and registered one assist in LaLiga this term, was not expected to return until the new year.
"He is a player who makes the difference in terms of duels, arrivals into the opponent's area and possession. He is vital, but we will not have him until 2025," he added.
Girona have 18 points after 13 games and will face an Espanyol side sitting in the relegation zone. The visitors are yet to win away this season, losing five of six games on the road, but Michel has won just one of his four LaLiga matches against Espanyol (D2 L1).
The Girona head coach said Manolo Gonzalez's team cannot be taken lightly despite their underwhelming performances in away games.
Espanyol are yet to win away this season, losing five of six games on the road.
"We faced each other in pre-season and we drew. It will be difficult since they are a very good team in transition with players like [Javi] Puado or Jofre [Carreras] with speed and depth," Michel said.
"It's always a different game. It's a derby, and it's good to play them. There is a rivalry that must be sporting and, for our people and the players, it is a different game."
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