Arsenal grab late point - Arsenal 1-1 Spurs

The Ox earned the Arsenal a point on Saturday

Arsenal always looked in control in the late game on Saturday but in the end they had to come back to earn a point against their north London rivals.

Tottenham Hotspur earned a 1-1 draw in the north London derby at Arsenal with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris the star of the show.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger caused something of a surprise in his selection as he left Alexis Sanchez on the bench, fielding 16million signing Danny Welbeck as a lone striker.

Spurs head coach Mauricio Pochettino made an even more interesting choice as he handed a Premier League debut to youngster Ryan Mason in midfield.

Arsenal made a strong start, with Aaron Ramsey testing Lloris early on, before Welbeck started to exert some influence.

He drilled in a low shot just past the 20-minute mark which again forced a save from Lloris and soon after Jack Wilshere rattled in a piledriver with his left foot which, fortunately for Spurs, was straight at the waiting Lloris.

Soon after Mikel Arteta was forced out of the game by injury, with Mathieu Flamini taking his place in midfield. And that change seemed to alter the momentum of the first half, with Spurs finally causing the home defence some problems.

Former Gunners striker Emmanuel Adebayor passed up a fine chance as he delayed a shot from only eight yards out, allowing a home defender to clear the danger.

Wojciech Szczesny then had to gather a header from team-mate Per Mertesacker following a corner, as the hosts were tested again.

Right on half-time Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain smashed in a 25-yarder which forced Lloris into a low save away to his left, before Nacer Chadli dragged a shot wide when clean through in the home area.

The half finished with Arsenal suffering another injury blow as Ramsey had to be replaced by Santi Cazorla.

Lloris was called into action shortly after the restart to block a Mesut Ozil drive, as the home side looked to break the deadlock.

However, with 56 minutes on the clock it was Spurs who went ahead after Arsenal lost the ball in midfield and Lamela played in Chadli, who this time made no mistake in driving the ball past the advancing Szczesny.

Keeper Lloris then made an astounding save to prevent a Per Mertesacker header from going in before Wenger threw on Sanchez to try and help rescue at least a point.

Calum Chambers rifled a 25-yard drive narrowly over the crossbar before the Gunners got back on level terms.

Spurs failed to deal with a ball into the box from the left and Oxlade-Chamberlain smashed home into the roof of the net, with Lloris helpless to intervene.

The hosts then pushed on in the final few minutes to try and find a winning goal but were unable to puncture the Tottenham backline again and had to settle for a share of the spoils.

The point, earned in a game which saw nine yellow cards dished out, keeps Arsenal in fourth place in the Premier League table and still unbeaten in their six league games to date - although four of them have been draws.

Spurs move up to eighth place, having won two, drawn two, and lost two.

Arsenal move on to take on Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, with Spurs back in action in the league next weekend when they take on Pochettino's former club Southampton at White Hart Lane.