LONDON --
There was relief from Arsenal that it came from behind to deny its great rivals Tottenham a victory in the North London derby, but there must also have been frustration after the 1-1 draw at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
While Spurs' threat on the counter was always there, Arsenal had enough possession and chances to have won with relative ease, but ended up with a fourth draw in six games this season. Tottenham has just eight points from six games, its worst start since Juande Ramos's time in charge, but there were signs of Mauricio Pochettino's method beginning to take root.
For Arsenal, this had threatened to be a dismal day. Defeat leaves it six points behind Barclays Premier League leader Chelsea, but probably more significant was the way its injury curse struck again. Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey were both forced off with what looked to be hamstring or thigh problems in the first half, which could have profound long-term consequences. Already down to just five fit front-line defenders, Arsenal now have only one natural holding player and two natural central midfielders plus Abou Diaby, who made his first appearance after yet another long-term injury in the Capital One League Cup defeat to Southampton on Tuesday. The absurd imbalance of its squad, the overloading with attacking players, was exposed again.
Worse, that one holding player, Mathieu Flamini, has looked desperately short of form this season, and he was culpable for the goal. He wasn't the first Arsenal player to be caught in possession in his own defensive third, but he was the one whose error was punished. The ball broke from Christian Eriksen's challenge to Erik Lamela and he slipped the ball outside him for Nacer Chadli to roll in his fourth goal of the season.
That vindicated Pochettino's selection of a 4-4-1-1, with Lamela and Eriksen wide and Chadli, by some distance Spurs' most improved player on last season, just behind Emanuel Adebayor. He could also take credit for his decision to field the debutant Ryan Mason alongside Etienne Capoue at the back of midfield. A former youth hurdles champion, the 23-year-old scored with a dipping 25-yard drive against Nottingham Forest in the Capital One League Cup on Wednesday. He was generally impressive, neat, tidy and inventive, although his involvement did -- yet again -- raise the question of quite how a player of such obvious ability could have got to 23 without playing in the Premier League. He signed his first professional deal with Spurs in 2008 but has been loaned out to five different lower-league cubs.
For all Tottenham's threat on the break, though, Arsenal controlled the ball for long spells and probably should have made more of that domination. It's still early, and he may yet blossom, but Danny Welbeck hasn't answered many of the doubts about his ability to lead the line. There is still, at 23, a strange spindliness about him, his limbs somehow too long for his body, the sort of imbalance that in a younger player you'd assume he'd grow out of. He is a gazelle of a footballer, graceful in full-flight, but strangely graceless when it comes to things he has to think about. Manchester United's hierarchy, it's said, lost patience with him after the incident in the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich last season when, having been told repeatedly that Manuel Neuer had a weakness low down, he attempted to dink the ball over the keeper after being set through one-on-one against him.
It wasn't quite the same category of mishap but it did seem typically of Welbeck when, after 14 minutes, he flicked the ball past Jan Vertonghen on the halfway line and charged on. His pace meant there was never any doubt he was going to arrive in the box with the ball at his feet but, having done so, and having had an age in which to decide what he was going to do, he hit a tame cross-shot that Younes Kaboul blocked.
Welbeck's part in Arsenal's equalizer will probably be overlooked, but his wild air-shot as Flamini's scuffed shot bobbled across the box suggested his lack of cool in front of goal. He was fortunate, though, the ball falling to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who smashed his shot into the roof of the net. Oxlade-Chamberlain, starting his second league game in a row, was probably Arsenal's most threatening attacking player, and he forced Lloris into a fine save low to his left shortly before halftime. The Spurs keeper had an excellent evening and made a stunning block low to his left to keep out Per Mertesacker's downward header a minute after Tottenham had taken the lead.
Arsenal could have won, but then with more quality after winning possession high up the pitch, so might Tottenham. A draw was probably about right, but it didn't really suit either team. Neither is really to find its rhythm yet this season and while their rivals for Champions League qualification may also be stuttering, there is a sense of a missed opportunity to build an advantage.
