Arsenal were left 10 men in the dying minute of the North London as Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang missed penalty as they drew with Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday.
Lucas Torreira was sent off over after a bad tackle on defender Danny Rose at the final minute as both teams settled for a point each.
Spurs did not press with any intensity and moved the ball slowly through midfield, while Arsenal dropped back and did not offer a consistent counter-attacking threat. Rather than a showcase of these teams’ technical qualities, the game underlined their shortcomings.
The most disappointing aspect of Arsenal’s display came in injury time, when Aubemeyang’s weak penalty, which he won himself after being fouled by Davinson Sanchez, was saved by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
It was a missed opportunity for the Gunners to put Spurs under serious pressure in the league table and were overtaken by United who beat Southampton at home.
Unai Emery’s selection featured no Aubemeyang, who is considered incompatible with Alexandre Lacazette in big matches when more numbers are needed in midfield.
Mesut Ozil, outstanding in a 5-1 thrashing of Bournemouth three days ago, was predictably omitted and even Lucas Torreira, Arsenal’s best performer before Christmas, was also only on the bench.
Sanchez tried to jump in and win the ball ahead of Lacazette but missed his header, allowing the French international to slip in Aaron Ramsey, who had the entire Spurs half to himself.
Arsenal midfielder brought the ball toward goal and had time to check over both shoulders to check he wasn’t being shut down before rounding Lloris and sliding into an empty net.
But Ramsey actually endured a difficult game, continually conceding possession, and was substituted relatively early in favour of Ozil.
There is a peculiarity about Arsenal being built around Ramsey as a No. 10, given he has already confirmed a summer departure to Juventus – while Ozil, the club’s highest-paid player, cannot get into the side.
Kane looked to be offside when a free kick was played into the penalty area, but Shkodran Mustafi’s decision to barge him in the back was both inexplicable and in keeping with his tendency to make ridiculous errors. Kane converted the penalty with typical calmness.
Mustafi was playing out of position at right-back and looked uncomfortable throughout, at one point miscontrolling the ball under little pressure and then clumsily pole-axing Danny Rose in an attempt to compensate.
Laurent Kosicelny and Sokratis Papastathopoulos played well in the centre, but at 33 and 30 respectively, it is difficult to believe this is Arsenal’s long-term solution at the back.
While Arsenal had problems at both ends, Spurs’ issue was in the centre of midfield.
After going behind, they found themselves dominating possession, but moved the ball slowly and predictably in midfield. Not enough was made of their wing-backs’ freedom and play was rarely switched into the acres of space down the flanks.
The absence of Harry Winks could be felt Victor Wanyama and Moussa Sissoko lacked his coolness in possession, which left Jan Vertonghen as Spurs’ chief distributor, playing straight balls in behind for Rose, or excellent long diagonals to Kieran Trippier.
At times, Vertonghen appears Spurs’ best centre-back, best left-back and best deep-lying playmaker.